This spring and summer, across the Midwest and Southeast United States, cicadas will crawl out of their underground burrows by the trillions to mate — due to two different broods of these wingèd insects emerging at about the same time, one on a 13-year cycle and one on a 17-year cycle.
In their brief several weeks aboveground, their mission will be to reproduce. Each male will attempt to attract females by producing a buzzing noise as loud as a lawnmower.
