Should Virginia Prepare for the Return of Cicadas This Year? Here’s What We Know

Its cicada season, and Virginia is in the path of these interesting (and noisy!) insects. This year, Brood XIV returns for the first time since 2008, per AccuWeather, and they will indeed appear in Virginia. This is the second-largest brood, and it’s also expected to emerge in Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia, per USA TODAY.

Cicadas are beneficial to our ecology, providing a natural aeration of soil, food for predators, and tree-pruning services. They only cause minor damage to some young fruit trees and shrubs, which can usually be protected with netting (though be mindful of the potential for birds to get trapped under the netting). They are not harmful to humans and will not sting or bite, making them an insect that even young children can interact with. (And, while cicadas can be eaten, you should never snack on a cicada from the wild, as it could contain diseases.) Cicadas may have an annoying sound, but like the rest of the animal kingdom, they are a valuable part of our world — and you only have to deal with them for a few weeks anyway.

What to Know About Brood XIV

Unlike annual cicadas that return each year, periodical cicadas only re-emerge every 13-17 years from underground, where they live as nymphs and drink nutrients from the ground, per the University of Connecticut. When they emerge and molt to their adult forms, they mate, lay eggs, and die — all within a short 3- to 4-week window.

Periodical cicadas, including Brood XIV, typically appear sometime between mid-May and June, when the soil warms up to about 64 degrees, about 8 inches underground. You can recognize them by their red, orange, and black coloring, which is different from the annual cicadas’ black and green coloring.

When the cicadas emerge, you might hear them before you see them. Cicadas have a loud mating call that can reach up to 100 decibels. And since so many emerge at once (up to 1.5 million per acre!), they can get annoying, fast. Luckily, they won’t stay long. Cicadas molt into adults, mate, and die in the space of just a few weeks, although their impact lasts much longer. Millions of cicada bodies can collect on a forest floor, providing nutrients to enrich the soil and the new cicada nymphs who burrow underground.

What cities will have the worst cicada emergence in Virginia?

Virginia often sees cicadas. A map by the USDA Forest Service shows which broods typically pop up in which area of the state, including Brood II, which last emerged in 2013; Brood IX, which last emerged in 2020; Brood X, which last emerged in 2021; Brood XIX, which last emerged in 2024; and Brood I, which is expected to return in 2029.

Brood XIV is expected to return to Virginia this year, but unless you live in the western part of the state, you likely won’t see any. Cicada Mania lists seven counties in Virginia that are expected to see the most cicadas. (Although annual cicadas will pop up like normal.)

Virginia Counties and the Cities & Towns Within Them That Will See Brood XIV in 2025:

• Botetourt County — Blue Ridge, Buchanan, Cloverdale, Daleville, Eagle Rock, Fincastle, Glen Wilton, Oriskany, and Troutville
• Lee County — Ben Hur, Blackwater, Dryden, Ewing, Jonesville, Keokee, Pennington Gap, Rose Hill, and Saint Charles
• Russell County — Castlewood, Cleveland, Dante, Honaker, Lebanon, Rosedale, and Swords Creek
• Scott County — Duffield, Dungannon, Fort Blackmore, Gate City, Hiltons, Nickelsville, and Weber City
• Smyth County — Atkins, Chilhowie, Marion, Saltville, and Sugar Grove
• Tazewell County — Amonate, Bandy, Bishop, Bluefield, Boissevain, Broadford, Burkes Garden, Cedar Bluff, Doran, Falls Mills, Horsepen, Jewell Ridge, North Tazewell, Pocahontas, Pounding Mill, Red Ash, Richlands, Tannersville, and Tazewell
• Wise County — Andover, Appalachia, Big Stone Gap, Coeburn, East Stone Gap, Pound, Saint Paul, and Wise

Track Cicadas

Once the cicadas have emerged, you can track them in real-time with a variety of cool tools like the Cicada Safari app from Mount St. Joseph University, which encourages people to take photos of cicadas near them, mark on the map where you found it, and check out other reported sightings of this insect.

You can also visit the iNaturalist website to see an interactive map of cicada sightings this spring.

Get kids excited about the upcoming appearance of cicadas with one of these free coloring pages and activities available online. Like this sweet drawing of cicadas on and near a tree from PETA Kids, this cicada fact sheet/coloring page from Crayola, and the cicada coloring page and origami cicada instructions on Cicada Safari.