Trees in south Oklahoma City and Moore had unexpected visitors this year. Despite the four years left on their clock, some Brood II cicadas emerged from the ground in the spring looking for mates.
Periodical cicadas differ from the annual singing insects heard in hot summer months. The broods are identified by their black bodies with red eyes and specific locations. Brood II are mostly found in eastern states, though Oklahoma has a disconnected population.
Sightings from citizen scientists in south Oklahoma City alerted Ohio entomologist Gene Kritsky to the emergence.
“We're assuming this was a Brood II population, which wasn't expected to emerge this year,” Kritsky, professor emeritus at Mount St. Joseph University, said. “It was expected to emerge in four years, in 2030.”
Kritsky helped develop Cicada Safari, an app that collects observations of the insect. He said premature cicada emergences are not unusual.
“What is surprising, especially about the Oklahoma population, is that they're singing,” he said. “I've got reports from cicadas on Cicada Safari of full sustained choruses of cicadas, which means they're singing, they're mating and laying eggs. And that's exciting.”
Naturalist and insect expert Zach DuFran observed the cicadas near Moore in May. He said he wasn’t aware there was a chance to see periodical cicadas this year. Still, a significantly larger group of periodical cicadas is expected to appear in 2030.
“This number that emerged this year, although I was able to see many cicadas, is a small percentage of the total population,” DuFran said.
Early periodical cicadas are known as “stragglers,” and researchers say they may be affected by climate change. A project at the University of Connecticut suggests long-term changes in temperature and precipitation have affected the species. Cicadas count time by detecting fluid flow in tree roots as it warms in the spring.
Kritsky said warming temperatures are affecting periodical cicadas globally. But the species has already adapted to dramatic past environmental changes, he said, including the Ice Age.
“These are wonders of nature,” Kritsky said. “If you're lucky enough to live in an area where they come, they emerge from the ground, it's like having a David Attenborough special in your backyard.”
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