Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod Brace for Cicada Invasion

Those creepy cicadas have been underground for 17 years, just waiting to pop the surface and raise a little Cain on Cape Cod.

Their time has come.

Mass Audubon stated that "More than 2,000 species of cicadas exist worldwide, with nine species documented from Massachusetts. The most common cicada species in Massachusetts is the 'Dog Day' cicada."

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There are periodical cicadas and annual cicadas. "Periodical cicada species emerge from underground every 13 or 17 years, of which Massachusetts has one active brood," according to Mass Audubon.

"The 17-year periodic Brood XIV will emerge in summer 2025 after not being seen since 2008," Mass Audubon wrote.

They are anticipated almost any day now.

University of Connecticut professor John Cooley, a cicada expert, told Boston's WBZ-TV, "This is the spring for them to come above ground. They come up, they molt, and they turn into adults."

"They have a couple of weeks to get adult things done, which involves mating and laying eggs," Cooley said. "Then the adults die and it will all be gone before you know it and we start the cycle over again."

Mass Audubon said the cicadas, known for their "astonishingly loud sound," are harmless.

"They are among the most benign insects," Mass Audubon said. "They can buzz impressively when trapped, but they don't sting, bite or carry any disease communicable to people."

A map from the University of Connecticut projects that the largest concentration of cicadas will be to the east of Buzzards Bay, with Barnstable and Plymouth Counties bearing the brunt of the invasion.