Apr 24, 2024 20:00:00

A cicada outbreak is so loud that residents call the sheriff's office asking, 'What is this noise?'

Periodical cicadas are a group of cicadas that live in North America and are known to appear in large numbers every 17 or 13 years. In Newberry County , South Carolina , in the southeastern United States, residents were surprised by the sound of cicadas that had appeared for the first time in a long time and asked the sheriff's office about the reason for the noise, the Associated Press reported.

Cicadas are so noisy in South Carolina that residents are calling the police | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/noisy-cicadas-south-carolina-police-39f2bd760a51c8c1d28d88b12473840e

Among the periodical cicadas that inhabit eastern North America, those with a 17-year cycle are found in the north, while those with a 13-year cycle are found in the south. They are classified into groups called 'Broods' depending on the year they appear, and 2024 will be a year of mass outbreaks when the 13-year ' Brood XIX ' and the 17-year ' Brood XIII ' will appear simultaneously.

The number of periodical cicadas occurring in 2024 is estimated to be one million per acre, which could reach hundreds of trillions across ^the 16 states where periodical cicadas occur.

The figure below shows the areas where Brood XIX appears in light blue and Brood XIII in orange. Brood XIX, which has a 13-year cycle, is distributed in the southern and central parts of Illinois, while Brood XIII, which has a 17-year cycle, is distributed in the northern parts of Illinois. There are places in central Illinois where the two species overlap, but it is unlikely that they are interbreeding.

The cicadas' outbreak has some locals freaking out, with residents in Newberry County, South Carolina, calling the sheriff's office to ask why they're hearing 'sirens and roaring noises,' according to the Associated Press.

Newberry County is in the region where Brood XIX occurs, which occurs every 13 years. While cicadas are generally thought of as emerging in the summer in Japan, Brood XIX emerges when the ground temperature reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit (17.8 degrees Celsius), so they only emerge in the spring or early summer.

In response to this incident, the Newberry County Sheriff's Office released a message on Facebook explaining, 'We have received several calls reporting noises that sound like sirens, chirps, and roars. These noises are actually cicadas. Cicadas are a group of insects that emerge every spring. Their larvae live underground for 13-17 years and emerge at this time of year. While some may find them noisy, they are harmless to humans and animals. Unfortunately, this is a natural sound.'