Periodical Cicadas

periodical cicada shown from the side
Scientific Name
Magicicada spp.
Family
Cicadidae (cicadas) in the order Hemiptera (true bugs)
Description

Adult periodical cicadas have blackish bodies, red eyes, and 4 membranous wings with a gold, orange, or red tinge. They crawl and fly, but they do not jump. The mouthparts, tucked beneath the head, are like a small, sharp straw. The antennae are short, and there are 3 ocelli (eyespots) in addition to the 2 larger, compound eyes. Compared to annual or “dog-day” cicadas, periodical cicadas are smaller.

Adult males have a sound-producing organ that emits a loud, raspy call used to attract females. Adult females have a curved ovipositor at the lower end of the abdomen, used to insert eggs into slits in twigs.

Nymphs are tan or brownish, wingless, stout, with the front pair of legs specialized for burrowing in the soil and for clinging onto trees as they undergo their final molt into adults. Neither nymphs nor adults are capable of harming people.

Size
Length: to 1½ inches.
Where To Find
image of Periodical Cicada Distribution Map
Statewide, but different broods emerge in different regions during different years.
Periodical cicadas make a sudden, massive appearance, usually in areas with trees, with loud raspy choruses and a multitude of shed skins left behind on tree trunks.
Like most true bugs (hemipterans), cicadas have mouthparts like small, sharp straws. The nymphs live underground and suck sap from the roots of trees and other plants. Adults can suck plant juices, too, but they live for only a few weeks above ground. It is rare but possible that if you let a cicada sit quietly on your hand or arm for a long time, it may jab you with its mouth, mistaking you for a plant — a painful but harmless accident, and certainly not an act of aggression or even defense.
Common throughout the state, but especially in areas where trees are abundant and soil left relatively undisturbed for 13 or 17 years. Because the nymphs live underground, suck juices from plant roots, and then must crawl out of the ground, large earthworks, deforestation, insecticides, enormous paved parking lots, and residential and commercial developments can decrease populations locally. Different broods in different regions each have their own schedule.

The different species and broods of periodical cicadas all have a life cycle similar to annual cicadas, except instead of living as nymphs for 2–5 years underground, with some adults emerging every year, the broods of periodical cicadas live underground for either 13 or 17 years, and all of the same type in an area emerge to become adults the same year — in fact, the same week.

One trigger for emergence is when the soil temperature (as measured 8 inches below the surface) reaches 64 F. This often occurs after a nice warm soaking rain, usually in May, but possibly as early as late April or as late as early June. Scientists are still trying to learn how cicadas synchronize their life cycles (over so many years!) so exactly.

When will Missouri see periodical cicadas again? Here are some predictions. Remember that the different broods may be present in some parts of Missouri but not in others. (See the links at the bottom of this page for a trove of detailed information.)

  • Brood XIX (19) should emerge in 2024. It comprises 4 species of 13-year cicadas.
  • Brood XXIII (23) should emerge in 2028. It comprises 4 species of 13-year cicadas.
  • Brood III (3) should emerge in 2031. It comprises 3 species of 17-year cicadas.
  • Brood IV (4) should emerge in 2032. It comprises 3 species of 17-year cicadas.

Periodical cicadas are one of the great wonders of nature, and they make a dramatic impact on our senses. Some people dislike the incessant din of calling males, while others are impressed by it.

Many human cultures have myths based on cicadas, and many people worldwide eat cicadas, too.

Periodical cicadas provide a temporarily huge, but not a perennial food source for their many predators.

The slits made in twigs by thousands of egg-laying females weaken branch tips, which often break off, providing a natural 13- or 17-year pruning mechanism. Young trees may be killed, however.

Birds feast on the plentiful cicadas and are probably the reason for their odd, simultaneous, abundant appearance. The huge numbers of cicadas overwhelm their predators’ ability to eat them up, so any individual cicada has a good chance of surviving and reproducing.

Cicadas that live long enough to succumb to old age, poetically enough, end up nourishing the soil, which was their “childhood home” for 13 or 17 years.

People often don't think about the great, cumulative importance of insects and other burrowing animals when it comes to aerating and mixing soil, and how their tunnels permit rainwater to soak into the ground.

Media Gallery
periodical cicada shown from the side
Adult periodical cicadas have blackish bodies, red eyes, and 4 membranous wings with a gold, orange, or red tinge.
Anonymous
1/19
Periodical Cicadas
Red-eyed, black-bodied periodical cicadas emerge in large broods every 13 to 17 years, depending on the brood.
MDC Staff
2/19
Periodical Cicada Nymph
After feeding underground for 13 or 17 years, nymphs emerge, climb trees, and shed their exoskeletons, often leaving them attached to bark and twigs.
3/19
Adult Periodical Cicadas
Although the larvae feed on tree roots and adults gather in trees, these charismatic insects rarely cause significant damage to mature trees.
4/19
Photo of a male periodical cicada, held in a hand, showing underparts.
This view of the underside of a male periodical cicada shows several anatomical features.
5/19
Photo of a female periodical cicada’s ovipositor.
Underside of a female periodical cicada, showing the ovipositor at the tip of the abdomen.
6/19
Photo of the face of a periodical cicada, showing mouthparts.
Cicadas have mouthparts suited for piercing and sucking fluids from trees.
7/19
Photo of a periodical cicada molt, showing underside.
This view of a cicada molt shows the ventral side (underside). The strong, spine-edged forelegs helped the nymph to dig through the soil for 13 or 17 years, then they enabled the animal to claw its way to the surface.
8/19
Photo of a periodical cicada in the process of molting.
It is easy to watch periodical cicadas undergo their molting process, transforming from tan, buggy creatures to fragile, pearly white teneral-stage adults and finally drying with black and red bodies and shiny golden wings.
9/19
Photo of a periodical cicada shortly after molting.
Right after emerging from their nymphal skins, adult cicadas have pale, tender skin and wings. This is called the teneral stage, and it’s very similar to the “softshell crab” stage in crabs.
10/19
Photo of a periodical cicada molt still clinging to a piece of wood, side view.
The shed skins of periodical cicadas remain for a long time on the tree trunks and other surfaces where they clung during the molting process.
11/19
Photo of a periodical cicada molt still clinging to a tree twig.
The dried cuticular strands dangle from the split in a cicada molt. During the molting process, these strands are moist and help keep the tender cicada from falling out of the shell.
12/19
Photo of a periodical cicada shown from the front.
Periodical cicadas have 2 large compound eyes. Between them on top of the head are 3 ocelli (eyespots, which are smaller).
Julianna Schroeder
13/19
Photo of two periodical cicada molts on a single leaf.
Two periodical cicadas ended up molting on a single leaf.
Julianna Schroeder
14/19
Photo of two periodical cicadas mating.
The mission of an adult insect is to find a mate, mate, and lay eggs. These periodical cicadas are in step two of the process. Male cicadas attract females with their raspy songs. The ear-shattering choruses of periodical cicadas amount to love songs.
15/19
Photo of a dead periodical cicada on a sidewalk.
Dead cicadas end up nourishing the soil that sheltered them for 13 or 17 years as nymphs.
16/19
Many periodical cicada emergence holes in bare ground.
These are some of the many emergence holes made by periodical cicadas as they tunnel out of the ground.
17/19
Video of periodical cicadas.
18/19
Listen to a single periodical cicada.
19/19
periodical cicada shown from the side
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Periodical Cicadas
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Periodical Cicada Nymph
Adult Periodical Cicadas
Photo of a male periodical cicada, held in a hand, showing underparts.
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Photo of a female periodical cicada’s ovipositor.
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Photo of the face of a periodical cicada, showing mouthparts.
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Photo of a periodical cicada molt, showing underside.
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Photo of a periodical cicada in the process of molting.
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Photo of a periodical cicada shortly after molting.
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Photo of a periodical cicada molt still clinging to a piece of wood, side view.
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Photo of a periodical cicada molt still clinging to a tree twig.
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Photo of a periodical cicada shown from the front.
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Photo of two periodical cicada molts on a single leaf.
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Photo of two periodical cicadas mating.
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Photo of a dead periodical cicada on a sidewalk.
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Many periodical cicada emergence holes in bare ground.
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Similar Species
About Land Invertebrates in Missouri
Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods. Arthropods—invertebrates with “jointed legs” — are a group of invertebrates that includes crayfish, shrimp, millipedes, centipedes, mites, spiders, and insects. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species.