Once every thirteen years…
An unusually noisy little visitor emerges all around Upstate, South Carolina.  This spring – sometime in late April/early May – we will witness the emergence of the 13 year Cicadas!

Cicadas in our area can be divided into two groups according to when they occur; those that appear annually ( from the end of June to the middle of October) and those that appear periodically (every 13 or 17 years), from the middle of April to the middle of May. There is also a difference in their appearance. Annual cicadas vary in size from a ¼ of an inch to almost three inches in size. They tend to be black, brown, and green and have a green coloration along their wing margins. The periodical cicadas are generally all black with red eyes and orange wing margins and are generally an inch in length. Periodical and annual cicadas would rarely occur at the same time. Some annual species can begin “calling” or “singing” as early as mid-June here in the Mid-Atlantic, however most species tend to call as individuals and not the famous huge chorus that the periodicals are known for.

We are due for a major emergence this April, with as many as 40,000 Cicadas on a single tree!  However, entomologists at Clemson University say that there is no way to accurately predict if a large population will surface; we can only “wait and see.”

» Read my latest Trail Journal entry
» Learn more about the 13 Year Cicadas