Illinois cicadas

Now that Illinois' fun with cicadas has almost completely ended, it's just about time for the arrival of...that's right, more cicadas. The ones that everyone has been talking about for the last year are periodical cicadas, and their emergence cycle is nearly complete, just in time for the "annual" cicadas to show up.

We've mostly made it through the midpoint of the Great Cicada Emergence of 2024, and with noise dying down, the sex tailing off, and the constant streams of cicada urine slowly subsiding, we've really got only one big hurdle to clear before it's all over: the awful scent of billions of decaying cicada bodies, which some people think is the worst part of the whole scenario.

We're still hearing from people who have not seen or heard a single cicada anywhere near them, but for many people, that constant, high-decibel mating call that's been going on around the clock can't stop soon enough. So, when exactly will these winged noisemakers finally shut up?

Depending on where you live in Illinois, you're probably in one of two different camps. In one camp, there are tons of cicadas around, and they're doing cicada things like singing, mating, and peeing. In the other camp, there are few to no cicadas around, and the atmosphere is quiet. Will the quiet areas actually see a cicada emergence?

Ultra rare blue-eyed cicadas have emerged in Illinois, surprising scientists and delighting insect enthusiasts.

They're already coming out of the ground in spots throughout the state of Illinois, and within the next short while you'll be seeing cicadas, hearing cicadas, watching cicadas mating, and...getting peed on by the billions and billions of cicadas who are just about to make themselves known.

According to the cicada experts we've been hearing so much from lately, we're anywhere from 2-3 weeks away from the coming historical cicada emergence (or, cicada-geddon). Maybe someone should tell that to the cicadas that are reportedly already popping out of the ground in various spots throughout Illinois.