Brood XXII will next emerge in the year 2027.
This Brood last emerged in 2014.
Magicicada Brood XXII, the Baton Rouge Brood, exists in Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as Ohio and Kentucky, in 2014.
Some Brood XXII facts:
- Brood XXII Magicicadas have a 13-year life cycle.
- Three of the four 13-year Magicicada species, M. tredecim, M. tredecassini, and M. tredecula, belong to Brood XXII.
- The last time Brood XXII emerged was 2001.
- We received reports from Baton Rouge, LA, Houma, LA, Pride, LA, Weyanoke, LA, Vicksburg, MS and Natchez, MS in 2001
Looking at the Cicada Central Magicicada Database:
- The following parishes in Louisiana will surely experience the Brood XXII emergence: Catahoula, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana. There are also literature records (typically older, and not substantiated by recent evidence) that the cicadas will appear in La Salle, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes.
- In Mississippi, Brood XXII should emerge in Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Hinds, Jefferson, Warren and Wilkinson counties, with literature records for Franklin county.
A lot of folks ask if they will appear in Orleans parish, but I haven’t seen evidence for that. However, there is no reason why you couldn’t start looking there, have some gumbo and fancy drinks, and then head north towards Baton Rouge.
These cicadas often appear where they aren’t expected and are absent where they are expected. So, keep an eye and ear out for them, but don’t be too disappointed if they don’t show up in your town.
1907 Map from Marlatt, C.L.. 1907. The periodical cicada. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology
Notes from 2014:
Update June 19: Signs of flagging from cicada egg laying are showing up.
Update (5/23): with folks reporting in from both Louisiana and Mississippi, it’s fair to say the emergence is in full swing. Go out and enjoy them while they’re still around.
Update (5/13): we’ve heard the first report that the cicadas have started singing! In Denham Springs, at least.
Update (5/5): the first confirmed Magicicada exuvia (shells/skins) have been found, as reported by Dave Marshall. It’s been a slow start thanks to a cold spring and cool soil temperatures.
Update (4/26): the first sightings have appeared on Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org). If you see (or heard) one of these cicadas, report it. And then share it via Twitter, YouTube, Flickr or Facebook so we can all check it out.
26 replies on “Brood XXII, the Baton Rouge Brood, will arrive in 2027”
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We have had cicadas emerging for over a week now in Greenwell Sprins, LA! Just wondering how long they will be emerging?
http://instagram.com/p/oG9-U-GfbA/
http://instagram.com/p/oG9kU_GfaN/
About 4 weeks.
The loud sound of cicadas are being heard in Vicksburg, MS. at least for several days, now.
They’re getting louder here in Denham Springs! I believe it’s been over 3 weeks now. I found a dead one I believe. Do they shed their skins? And are they related to locusts? Thanks!
Our home is surrounded by woods in the Plettenberg area of West Feliciana Parish (by Greenwood Plantation for those familiar with St. Francisville). The “singing” is very loud and has been for about four days. There were quite a few dead ones under our carport yesterday morning.
Went to the camp in Centreville, Ms yesterday and the cicadas were everywhere! A lot of tree was covered in cicadas in various stages.
Hi! Thanks for the information. Brood XXII can be heard loud and clear in East Baton Rouge and Livingston Parishes right now. We had a crawfish boil and couldn’t figure out what on earth we were hearing out there (frogs? gas?) but it’s cicadas sure enough. Not to nitpick too much, but Louisiana doesn’t have counties, and if you are enjoying gumbo and fancy drinks in New Orleans and you want to get to Baton Rouge, you’d better go WEST and not north, unless fancier drinks can be found in Lake Ponchartrain. Anyway, this information is very useful and certainly lays a nagging question to rest. Thanks again!
Thanks Ian! That’s a nit worth picking. I changed county to parish in the article.
I have been hearing the cicadas loudly “singing” for about a week here in Jackson, La (East Feliciana) and this morning they seem to be even louder than yesterday…soI actually found a red-eyed cicada while walking the other day in Ethel,La.
Took me a few days to remember that I’d heard this deafening “song” before, back in 2001. Your website confirmed my suspicions. The cicadas are singing quite loudly in City of Central. Will try to post pics and/or video later today.
The cicadas are singing and flying around in the Felicianas.
The cicadas are singing in Norwood, Louisiana in East Feliciana Parish!
Sitting on my back porch in Denham Springs listening to the music. They are super loud this morning. Funny thing is they are drilling a new oil well in the area, and the neighbors are all complaining about the drilling sound, haha little do they know that it’s nature and it’s beautiful!
Thanks so much for the info on cicadas in Baton Rouge area. Used it to educate my grandchildren on the cicada. Almost deafening here in City of Central. Thanks again.
Very loud out here on the Amite River in East Baton Rouge. This is the 4th day of continuous singing. Sounds like the aliens are landing.
Hello,
I am looking into making some recordings of cicadas singing for the purposes of a musical project. Is there a group that makes excursions to search for cicadas that I could perhaps tag along with?
Thank you,
Jacob Mathew
I started hearing them around May 10th here in Livingston parish in Denham Springs. They’ve gotten louder over the last 2 days. 🙂
It took me 2 days to figure out what the sound outside is, but after seeing more and more nymphs over the last week or so, I finally came in and got on the computer. I’ve got about 20 nymphs in the yard today, at least 100 holes in the ground, lots of shells, and 2 days of hum coming from the woods which I cannot find another cause for. So they are here!! I’ve got pics and an audio file, but I don’t know how to upload. We are in Gurley, LA, which is also considered Clinton, LA, same as Bill Stark who posted on May 9th, 3 days ago.
I live and ride my trikke (great exercise by the way, mytrikke.com) on Mollylea Dr here in Baton Rouge.
I have noticed many empty shells under my carport.
And have seen one “live shell” climbing on my trash can.
Hopefully, I will get to see some adults hanging out in the trees around my house.
I picked up several nymphal skins and noticed numerous exit holes under a single oak tree in my yard in Clinton (Hinds Co.) MS yesterday. Last night I brought 4 live nymphs into the house and put them in cages to emerge, which they did. This same tree had a small contingent (80 or so) exit holes/skins/adults for the Great Southern Brood in 2011.
Just got our first confirmed field report of nymph shells (the adults were already gone), from near Baton Rouge.
For comparison, our field notes from 2002 (Brood XXIII, the other 13-yr brood) say that on the 5th of May that year we had a chorus of Magicicada tredecim (and some tredecassini), lots of tenerals (female biased, indicating the latter part of the emergence) and Stage I Massospora-infected individuals at the Jackson, MS airport. That’s even a ways north.
Not sure what this means, but the soil temperature website data below implies that it could still be a while. Temps in the upper 50s at four inches across much of the range of Brood XXII (if I am reading it correctly). Temps supposedly must reach 64F at *eight* inches deep to trigger emergence. Perhaps the mapped sites are all wooded/cooler, and don’t reflect soils in warmer suburban/park areas where we tend to see the earliest emergences.
http://dtn.msfb.org/index.cfm?show=1&mapID=20&showMenu=0
That’s interesting. I wish there was a RadioLab style temperature project going on down there. It would be nice to see the soil temps.
Things seem to be late this year with the cool spring. In 2001 we were collecting many emerging cicadas in Baton Rouge in the last week of April.
This week looks good though. High 80’s, lows above 65. I hope it happens soon.