The Broods are coming. While it sounds like the plot of a horror story, anytime from now to mid-June, more than a trillion cicadas will emerge en masse from underground in 17 states in Eastern and Southern U.S. Thankfully Maine is not on the list, yet another good reason to be grateful we live here.

This rare double emergence of the 13- and 17-year cicadas Broods last occurred when Thomas Jefferson was President and, by some accounts, will not happen again for another 221 years. As you can imagine, it is challenging to monitor such large numbers of these insects and can be an imprecise science because sometimes the Broods “straggle,” arriving either early or late.

To add more confusion, there are 3 distinct groups of the Great Southern Broods which emerge every 13 years. Brood XIX is hatching this year. There are 12 individual groups of the 17-year Northern Illinois Broods (XIII is hatching this year). Illinois may have some overlap from both groups this year, a jackpot, so to speak. Illinois wasn’t even a state the last time this happened.

Cicadas are about one inch long and have clear wings. There are 3,400 cicada species world-wide. but only nine utilize the unusual underground disappearing act during the juvenile stage. Seven of those species live in the Eastern/Mid-Western and Southern U.S. forests. The 13- and 17-year cicadas are distinct species. The 17-year Broods have red eyes, black bodies and orange striped wings.

And talk about noisy. People in the target areas may want to try ear plugs. Different species sing unique love songs.

Some cicada species can generate calls of about 100 decibels or more, which is comparable to the noise level of a lawnmower or passing jet aircraft, according to University of Illinois researchers. Apparently, they don’t enjoy wet places, so rain will quiet them or you could sprinkle your yard and trees if they get too loud. There is no need to use pesticides, as they won’t stick around for long and they do little damage.

Here is everything you NEVER wanted to know about the life cycle of these insects. The ones that are going to hatch soon were laid as eggs in tree branches in 2011 or 2007, depending on the brood. When the eggs hatched, the nymphs fell and burrowed into the ground under their birth trees, where they spend the next 13- or 17-years drinking tree sap and growing big. Too bad that wouldn’t work for human teenagers. When the soil reaches 64 degrees, it’s showtime. The cicadas emerge and spend a few ecstatic weeks singing their deafening love songs and breeding frenetically before they die.

Our Maine cicadas are much better behaved. According to the University of Maine website, we have four types: Says, Canadian, Linne’s, and Dog-Day. They remain underground anywhere from 2–5 years, hatching in smaller, well-mannered batches annually in late July and August each year. Our little guys (the males) provide the music of late summer. The sex and then death part is the same.

You’ve got to love the novelty of all this. In honor of the 13-year Brood XIX, a chef in New Orleans has decided to add them to the menu. I hear air-frying works wonders.