Off-cycle cicada stragglers start to emerge in parts of DC region
Off-cycle cicada stragglers start to emerge in parts of DC region
Cicada procrastinators who did not emerge with their Brood X brethren in 2021 are finally making their way above ground. Professor Michael Raupp with the University of Maryland’s Department of Entomology said cicadas that arrive off-cycle are called stragglers. He said stragglers can appear as many as four years early – or two years late.
WASHINGTON - Cicada procrastinators who did not emerge with their Brood X brethren in 2021 are finally making their way above ground.
Billions of the red-eyed insects arrived last May as part of the largest brood of 17-year cicadas. Most parts of the Washington, D.C. region saw massive numbers of the bugs. By June – they had mostly come and gone.
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Professor Michael Raupp with the University of Maryland's Department of Entomology said cicadas that arrive off-cycle are called stragglers. He said stragglers can appear as many as four years early – or two years late.
Brood X cicada
Unfortunately, Raupp says, the late-arrivals don't stand much of a chance of finding a mate. By coming out in such large numbers all at once -- predators that eat cicadas can get their fill and there will still be plenty of bugs left to breed. The stragglers don't have the advantage safety in numbers brings.
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Raupp says the stragglers will be few and far between and says the next substantial cicada numbers could be seen in the D.C. area in a few years when the Brood II cicadas emerge.