The Brood 2 Cicada, which only comes ’round once every 17 years, has begun to emerge from the ground in Central Park, according to a map of cicada sightings put together by WNYC’s Radio Lab. The bugs are expected to come out en masse in the next month or so as part of this regular ritual. They’ll buzz around, mate and then die.
According to the map, there have been two reports of cicadas: people have reported that they heard cicadas around 97th street in the middle of the park and that they saw cicadas around 72nd street in the park. Supposedly, the cicadas have been coming out first in Staten Island. Like everyone else, they’ve clearly been priced out of Manhattan and Brooklyn. WNYC explains what they look and sound like:
The insect, with its sinisterly bright red eyes and black body, can grow to about an inch and a half long. Include the bug’s clear wings and that could add about 2 inches.
But what’s really notable about the cicada is its loud, unrelenting noise. To imagine what it sounds like, Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an urban entomologist and a senior extension associate at Cornell University, says think of a plastic water bottle. “Push the plastic back and forth, it makes a click sound,” she said. “Imagine that going really quickly.”
There’s also supposedly a disease called cicadaphobia, or at least a website dedicated to it.
Check out a video of cicadas at a wedding in 1996, and the interactive map of cicada sightings below. If you see any of the bugs, try to take a photo and send it to us, and consider plotting it on the map.
