There’s been a lot of buzz this spring about those loud buzzing insects known as cicadas, because billions of them have started emerging from the ground in some U.S. states and more will be popping up in the next few weeks.
New Jersey, however, will not be among the 17 states where two different broods of those creepy-looking winged insects will be making ear-piercing mating calls this month.
Experts say a different type of periodical cicada — Brood 14 — will be emerging in parts of west-central New Jersey, along with areas of eastern Pennsylvania, during the spring of 2025.
After next year, the next big cicada invasion in the Garden State will occur in 2030, when the Brood 2 insects start crawling out of the ground, according to Gene Kritsky, a national cicada researcher and retired biology professor at Mount St. Joseph University in Ohio.
Those cicadas were last seen in New Jersey in the spring of 2013.
Many Jerseyans — especially those living in or visiting the Princeton area — got a taste of a major cicada invasion in the spring of 2021, when loud swarms of Brood X cicadas emerged from the ground and made their way onto trees, cars and sidewalks. The Brood X cicadas, also known as Brood 10, have a 17-year life cycle, so they won’t be returning to the Garden State until 2038.
In the meantime, different types of annual cicadas can be heard each year during the summer months. But those aren’t as big in number as the cicadas that emerge only once every 13 or 17 years.
This year’s cicada invasion is drawing widespread attention because it’s the first time in 221 years that two specific groups of cicadas — Brood 13 and Brood 19 — will be surfacing at about the same time, when soil temperatures get warmer.
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States where Brood 13 cicadas are expected
Insect experts say parts of only four states will be seeing or hearing the Brood 13 cicadas this spring:
States where Brood 19 cicadas are expected
Parts of 16 states, including three mentioned above, will have an opportunity to see or hear the Brood 19 cicadas this spring, according to cicada experts:
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.
