Illinois Cicada Emergence 2024: How to protect your home

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — As two broods of cicadas begin to emerge in Illinois, you may soon be wondering: how do I keep cicadas out of my house?

While mostly harmless, cicadas can become a nuisance to homeowners. They do not bite and do not carry any disease-causing pathogens.

However, the flying insects leave their exoskeletons clinging to trees, screen doors, and other objects, and are attracted to bright lights at night.

Pest control company Terminix recommends repairing any holes around the home, window, and patio door screens to keep cicadas out of the house.

Two different broods of the insects, one that emerges every 17 years and one that emerges every 13 years are on track for a simultaneous emergence.

The cicadas are expected to leave the soil once the temperature reaches 64 degrees.

While adult cicadas don’t usually eat plants, young cicadas can damage plants by nipping at the roots and branches.

Cicadas eat sap and lay their eggs in trees and other shrubs. The plants and trees most at risk from the bugs are sapling trees, ornamental shrubs, blueberries, grape vines, and bramble fruits like raspberries, blackberries, oaks, maples, cherries, dogwoods, and redbuds.

Better Homes & Gardens recommends gardeners use a physical barrier, such as netting, to protect plants.

However, like any creature that feeds, they emit waste which may be a reason to cover any patio and outdoor furniture.

According to an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, cicadas eliminate waste in the form of urine.

Cicadas can produce urine in a jet of up to 10 feet per second, the study found, according to The New York Times . The insects drink around 300 times their weight in sap every day and hold a record for the strongest urine jet stream of any insect, relative to their size.

Some early risers have already emerged, and you may have already begun to hear their mating calls at night.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks cicadas as “among the loudest insects in the world,” with a chorus that has been measured between 90 – 110 dB.

That’s pretty loud. chorus of cicadas has been measured between 90 – 110 dB.

That’s the equivalent of a hairdryer, leafblower, concert, or monster truck show, according to Decibel Pro.

“The male makes the noise,” said Russ Higgins, educator at the University of Illinois Extension. “It actually does that by using a tymbal, which is in its abdomen. It actually flexes that tymbal with its muscles and it causes a vibration, which actually is amplified through their abdomen, and they’re trying to attract a girlfriend.”

The noise that some of the species make is similar to lawn equipment, like lawnmowers and other vibrating machinery such as hedge trimmers and power drills.

“And there are stories when the cicadas are all together making noise that they actually attract females to the lawnmowers and overwhelm some of our folks who are working in their yards,” said Higgins.

The two broods last emerged at the same time in 1803. This simultaneous appearance won’t happen again until 2245.

“This is a dual hatch year. Brood XIII and Brood XIX, are happening in the same year in Illinois,” said Higgins.

Cicadas live about four to six weeks, but the two broods will overlap for several weeks in Illinois, experts said. The greatest likelihood of contact between them will likely be around Springfield.

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