Bugging Out In Midwest

It may not be the biblical swarm of locusts, but the Midwest is bracing for an onslaught of cicadas – big, noisy bugs that hibernate underground for 17 years then emerge, en masse, in early summer to mate and die.

The 2007 cycle, named Brood XIII, has begun and lasts about 30 days.

It is uncertain how this will affect outdoor concerts in the Midwest but in one case – the Ravinia Festival – the event was moved indoors in anticipation of the insect’s formidable racket, which for a single male can exceed 90 decibels.

When swarming, cicadas are known to drown out lawnmowers and power tools – and sound a bit like them, too. The last major U.S. cicada invasion was Brood X in 2004, where they made life miserable in parts of 15 Eastern states.