Everything you wanted to know about cicadas – but were afraid to touch – is coming to WVXU's new Brood X: The Cicada Podcast.
Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., Mt. St. Joseph University's internationally known cicada expert, will explain all about the Brood X 17-year emergence in a 10-part podcast series with WVXU reporter Cory Sharber launching April 27.
And they need your help. The Brood X: The Cicada Podcast will include questions from the public – including students – submitted to Kritsky by email (BroodX@wvxu.org) or by using the Talk2Us feature on the free WVXU app.
Along with the podcast, Kritsky and Mt. St. Joseph are launching the Cicada Safari mobile app and the CicadaSafari.org website, which have cicada information, history, maps and activities.
"We are really needing people to report cicadas via the free app Cicada Safari, which was developed with the help of students at the Center for IT Engagement at the Mount," says Kritsky, who has written two books on cicadas, including the new Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition published by the Ohio Biological Survey. "We can also accept 10 second videos, so when the cicadas start singing, especially when they are very loud, we would like to have people submit videos as well."
The app has had over 30,000 downloads to date, he says.
The insects spend most of their lives underground feeding on roots and tree fluids. They emerge from the ground as nymphs, climb a vertical surface (a tree, plant, fence post, wooden playset, etc.), and start to shed their exoskeleton. They mature into black and orange insects with big heads, large red eyes and clear membrane wings. The males are quite noisy, as they seek to attract a female mate.
They are expected to emerge in Greater Cincinnati and Southern Indiana in mid-May.
According to CicadaSafari, periodical cicadas were first seen by "the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony in 1634, but they were known to Native Americans for centuries prior to European contact. Brood X was first reported in 1715 in Philadelphia."
Brood X, the largest of the 17-year cicada broods, is concentrated in Southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and all of Indiana. They emerge in 15 states, from New York and Maryland to Michigan in the north, Illinois to the west and Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia to the south.
They are first expected to emerge in southern states in early May.
It's worth your while to check out Cicada Safari. There's plenty of really cool cicada information, such as:
--There are four other species of 13-year cycle cicadas, which will not emerge this year.
--Not all cicadas count years correctly. Some from the 17-year cycle emerged four years early in May 2000, according to Kritsky.
--Adult cicadas do not sting or bite humans, and do not carry diseases.
John Kiesewetter's reporting is independent. Cincinnati Public Radio only edits his articles for style and grammar.
