{"id":35254,"date":"2024-01-15T13:58:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T12:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/a33a0924-8a8f-4bf9-a60b-88206caeb5e6"},"modified":"2024-01-15T15:35:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T14:35:38","slug":"billions-of-cicadas-are-about-to-emerge-in-illinois-and-scientists-dont-know-what-will-happen","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/billions-of-cicadas-are-about-to-emerge-in-illinois-and-scientists-dont-know-what-will-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"Billions of cicadas are about to emerge in Illinois, and scientists don\u2019t know what will happen"},"content":{"rendered":"

This spring in Illinois, USA, 17- and 13-year cicadas are due to emerge at the same time, something that last occurred in 1803. What will happen? <\/p>

By Stuart Blackman\n <\/p>

Published: Monday, 15 January 2024 at 12:58 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Like buses, you don\u2019t see one for years and then billions of them appear at once. And when they do finally show up, the periodical cicadas of North America \u2013 larger, noisier relatives of the planthoppers \u2013 radically alter the ecology of their forest habitat, according to new research. <\/p>

These periodical cicadas come in two varieties \u2013 one has a 17-year life-cycle; the other a 13-year one. Both spend the vast majority of their lives as nymphs below ground, sucking sap from tree roots. But when their time is up, they emerge above ground en masse and moult into winged adults. They mate and lay eggs, swamping predators through sheer weight of numbers.<\/p>