Annual vs. Periodical Cicadas: The differences between these two bugs.
BLUE ASH, Ohio – Officials announced on Thursday that a “cicada attack” led to a car crash in the northern Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash.
A photo shot after the incident shows a silver Kia laying on its side, with a crumpled-up hood and fender and a spiderweb of cracks streaking across the windshield.
The Blue Ash Police Department cautioned drivers of cicadas flying into their vehicles, encouraging individuals to leave their windows up for the next several weeks.
Vehicle after a “cicada attack” caused it to crash.
(Blue Ash Police Department / FOX Weather)
“As you can see, a cicada attack can be dangerous,” they said. “Fortunately, no one was injured in this crash. The suspect fled the scene.”
Cicadas of Brood XIV
Cicadas flocking around southern Ohio and throughout the eastern U.S. this year are part of a cohort known as Brood XIV. These periodical cicadas emerge from the ground every 17 years.
Brood XIV of 2025 first began emerging in northern Georgia around late April and early May. This was when soil temperatures in the area reached 64 to 65 degrees, cuing the buried insects to burrow to the surface, according to Gene Kritsky, Professor Emeritus of Biology at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati and founder of the cicada database app Cicada Safari.
From there, cicadas throughout the Southeast, Midwest and Northeast began to emerge on a rolling basis, as temperatures began to warm in more northern latitudes. As of Saturday, reports of cicadas have been made as far north as Massachusetts, according to Cicada Safari.
Cicadas of Brood XIV from 2007.
(Gene Kritsky / CicadaSafari.org / FOX Weather)
As with all cicadas of any brood, the cicadas of Brood XIV have reached the surface with the intent of finding a mate.
CICADAS EMERGE ACROSS SOUTH, EAST COAST AS BILLIONS OF BUGS CREATE ‘SCREAMING’ TREES
Once out of the ground, the male cicadas will take up shop in nearby trees and produce their iconic loud buzzing sounds to attract females.
“The trees will just be screaming with all these males singing,” Kritsky said to FOX Weather. “I have measured the intensity – the highest I’ve ever measured is 102 decibels. Commonly, you’ll see them coming in at 90 decibels. That’s louder than the planes landing at Dulles.”
Cicada nymphs on a tree.
(Gene Kritsky / cicadasafari.org / FOX Weather)
BILLIONS OF CICADAS TO BEGIN BUZZING IN DAYS AS ‘ROLLING EMERGENCE’ SET TO HIT EAST COAST
After mating, the female cicadas lay their eggs in the trees. As the adults die off, the eggs hatch and cicada nymphs are born. The nymphs – the next generation of Brood XIV – then drop to the ground and burrow their way into the soil, where they will feed off the roots of trees and grass for the next 17 years.
Brood XIV is one of 15 known cicada broods, Kritsky said. He noted that 12 of the broods follow a 17-year cycle, whereas three follow the 13-year cycle.
