Billions of cicadas that have been buried for 17 years are about to invade the east coast

Billions of cicadas will invade the east coast of the United States this spring after being buried alive for 17 years. As the ground warms and finally reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit, hundreds of billions of these giant bugs will quit eating tree roots and make their way to the surface to mate.

Experts say that the bugs, called Brood X, will first see the light of day in southern states like Georgia within the end of the month, but Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia probably are home to more of these bugs than any other of the 14 states housing the creatures.

University of Maryland entomologist Mike Raupp told The Washington Post: “We are at the epicentre of an event that happens nowhere else on the planet except here in the Eastern United States."

He added: “It’s going to be pretty remarkable, come the latter half of May. The densities of these things is going be phenomenal, about 1.5 million per acre. It blows your mind.”

Entomologist Gaye Williams at Maryland Department of Agriculture told The Post: “What people will actually see is animals eating bugs."

She added: “It’s very much like when you go to an all-you-can-eat crab feast. The very first bunch that you throw down on your table, everybody grabs crabs and you start cracking them, and you take every last molecule of crab meat. About the fourth tray… people only take the claws. As this orgy of eating goes on, there are animals that actually won’t touch them anymore. They’re full.”

The mating songs of the male cicadas can reach 100 decibels, the sound of a "chain-saw, a lawnmower, a jet overhead,” Mr Raupp said.

Brood X is made up of three different species called Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini and Magicicada septendecula. As they come out of the ground, they will all sing separate mating songs from different trees.

Adult cicadas die after mating; females put their eggs in trees and then promptly perish. The eggs will hatch after a period of time, the young cicadas will fall to the ground, dig into the earth and munch on a tree root for 17 years until it's time to reemerge once again.

Christine Simon, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, told The Post: “The song of the first species sounds like a flying saucer landing from a 1950s science fiction movie. The middle species sounds like someone took water and threw it into hot oil. The third one sounds like an angry squirrel.”

The cicadas that will emerge has existed for 3.9 million years, splitting into different species half a million years ago. Twelve of the broods appear every 17 years and three every 13 years. Some appear every year but are barely noticeable.

“Some people will find them annoying, but for us, it’s just going to be a fascinating opportunity to witness mother nature at her best,” Mr Raupp told WTOP News.

He added: “It’s going to be like having a National Geographic special in your backyard, so I encourage everybody to go out and enjoy this thing.”