Every 17 years, billions of insects, known as the cicadas of Brood X, rise from the earth. This year, perhaps, there will be trillions! Different broods, or groups, of cicadas come out on different years. The last time Brood X appeared was in 2004. The brood is one of the largest and will appear sometime in May in 15 states, from Georgia in the south to New York in the northeast. Many scientists and insect lovers say they are looking forward to the red-eyed insects after a 17-year wait. One of them is Mike Raupp, an insect expert at the University of Maryland. “What they’re waiting for is the soil temperatures to reach about 18 degrees Celsius, I believe that’s about 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Then they’re going to be up and out of the ground.” Raupp called the event a “party on the treetops.” When the insects come out of the ground, they will drop their skin, get their wings, and will try to go up on the treetops to escape from the predators. Raupp told VOA every creature will want to eat a cicada, and they will! “On that night of emergence when the cicadas come up from the earth, everything on the planet is going to want to eat a cicada.” Once on the treetops, the male cicadas will “sing” their mating songs to draw the females. And it is loud! If she likes the singing, they will have sex and reproduce. About six weeks later, the nymphs will fall off the treetops and go into the ground. Underfoot, the insects will quietly feed off tree roots and wait for another 17 years to start the party on the treetops all over again. “I think the periodical cicadas give tens of millions of people an opportunity to simply go out in their backyard and witness and enjoy a natural event that happens nowhere else on the planet, only a handful of times in a lifetime.”