Cicadas by State 2026

There are a lot of people who are familiar with the call of cicadas. Every few years, they seem to come out of hibernation, dominating many portions of the United States. Cicadas themselves are a superfamily, and they belong to the order Hemiptera, which is where the “true bugs” are located. Even though cicadas can be annoying, they cannot hurt you or your pets. For example, there is a common concern that cicadas will bite people. In reality, that is not the case, and cicadas do not even have the anatomy to bite someone. Therefore, if you see or hear cicadas, you do not necessarily need to take shelter, even though it might seem like they are about to overwhelm the area.

Why Do Cicadas Come and Go in Large Packs?

There are some people who get very surprised when cicadas appear to come and go for such a long amount of time. For example, there are some cicadas that may go underground and hide for more than a decade. Then, a few years later, they tend to emerge all at the same time. Even though this is an active area of research, there are a lot of people who believe that cicadas tend to do this as a protective mechanism. When cicadas come to the surface, they tend to deal with a lot of predators. By hiding underground for a long time, they can stay safe. Then, they can stick together when they come up, helping protect the pack.

Which States Have Cicadas?

Cicadas can be found in a wide variety of areas, but they tend to stick together as a giant brood. For example, broods are found in three separate locations, generally around the Mid-Atlantic. One of the broods that emerged recently was Brood X. These cicadas were found in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Even though it might be a while before we see cicadas again, people who live in these states likely remember the emergence of cicadas just a few short years ago.

Are Cicadas Going To Return in the Near Future?

There is a high likelihood that cicadas are going to return in the near future, but it remains to be seen whether they are going to emerge in 2023. Even though a lot of scientists study them, the amount of data we have is still relatively small, as we have not been tracking the emergence of cicadas for very long. In addition, there are different broods that are located in different parts of the country, so scientists are still trying to figure out where they are going to emerge next. Keep in mind that cicadas are not necessarily harmful, even if they can be a bit noisy from time to time. As more information is collected, our predictions will become more accurate.