Cicadas to Start Buzzing the Area Soon

They don't bite, suck or pose any real physical threat to humans, but darned if cicadas are not downright big and scary-looking. The Bucks/Montgomery county area is about to get an earful from the winged nuisances after they hatch and swarm the sky.

"It's hard to predict exactly what the outbreak will look like," said Dr. Chris Tipping, an entomologist in the Biology Department at Delaware Valley College. "They'll emerge from the south first, and what happens there will be a good indicator of what we can expect. We should get some pretty decent numbers."

The last time the area saw a heavy outbreak of cicadas was in 2004, but that was different brood. The insects are classified in separate broods, depending on their gestation period. Brood II, which is about to emerge, is a 17-year brood and has been growing underground since 1996.

Dr. Tipping anticipated the swarm's emergence last year when one of his students caught an early riser.

"There's always a few that come up early and some that are late to burrow," he said. Dr. Tipping missed the 2004 outbreak because he was studying in Florida, but his brother described it to him as the sound of a science fiction movie in the woods. He said the cicadas are by and large harmless to the public, but they can cause some environmental damage.

"They dig into tree branches to lay eggs," said Dr. Tipping. "That can scar the trees and make them very brittle and susceptible to break easily from strong winds."

According to NBC News, the cicadas will start emerging in the Carolinas by early May, hitting the Philadelphia area in June.