Living in the southern part of the U.S., cicadas are the sound of summer. Still, 2024 was something totally different. National and local news agencies reported a cicada invasion coming to certain areas of the country, particularly in the Midwest. From an online source, I learned that for the first time since 1803, a 13-year and a 17-year brood, specifically, Brood XIX and XIII would be co-emerging. In June, I was invited by biologist Kasey Fowler-Finn, Ph.D. to fly out to St. Louis to record the insects before the moment passed. 

With info coming in from colleagues of Kasey’s who were tracking the emergences, we were pointed to Southern Illinois and to very specific locations to experience each brood. We drove to fields where walls of sound greeted us, each time with different sonic details and volume. As the winds would pick up or the sun would fade behind clouds, the intensity would fade. As the conditions changed again, the orchestra of insects (and birds and more) would intensify. Kasey would whisper that we were primarily hearing “decim” or “cassini” (Magicicada tredecim and Magicicada tredecassini respectively).