MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — After a 17-year absence, the Brood X cicada has returned.
The cicadas have begun emerging in 15 states, including West Virginia. The insects are primarily emerging from the Eastern Panhandle.
“Over one million of them per acre is possible, so it’s billions of insects emerging all at once,” said Jim Siegel, an ecology curriculum manager at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown.
The cicadas will emerge through June and mate with other insects before dying. The insects shed their exoskeletons, leaving hollow shells behind as the insects move to find mates through chorusing.
Siegel said cicadas may look intimidating with their red eyes and long black bodies, but they are harmless insects.
“They don’t bite. They don’t eat,” he added.
Siegel was a recent guest on MetroNews affiliate Panhandle News Network’s “Panhandle Live.”