PHOENIX — The cicadas making headline noise around the nation won't be making a sound here in Arizona. Around mid-May until late June, two periodical cicada species will be above ground, just not Arizona's.
The ones known as "Brood XIII" will be emerging for the first time since 2007. However, in Arizona, we won't be seeing this red-eyed orange-bellied species. The ones in Arizona are green with black eyes and appear annually.
But it's a special year for cicadas: This will be the first year since 1803 where Brood XIII and Brood XIX will appear at the same time, according to the University of Connecticut's cicada research pages.
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These broods will be found in approximately fifteen states from Iowa to Georgia. Combined, this will be the largest emergence of the insect since 1803. Experts believe the number will be in the trillions.
Cicadas can live underground courtesy of a pump in their head that is able to pull moisture from the roots of trees.
That tissue is called xylem, which is made up of mostly water and nutrients. They spend most of their life sucking liquid from these roots. Daily they consume up to 300 times their body weight.
That also makes them the strongest urinator of the animal kingdom. In fact, cicadas pee two to three times stronger than elephants and humans.
The oddities don't stop there. A deadly sexually transmitted disease turns cicadas into zombies.
A fungus causes the male organs to fall off before they die. It's estimated 10% of the species in the Midwest are affected.
When birds eat the infected cicada, it causes a hallucinatory effect, similar to psilocybin mushrooms. This insect does not sting or bite, making it nothing more than a noisy nuisance to humans.
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