Every seventeen years, cicadas come out of the ground in swarms. The last year that cicadas made an appearance was 2004, and now they are coming back in 2021. The places that are affected by cicadas are Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington D.C., and North Carolina.

Mrs. Beiser, the agricultural science teacher, says that cicadas are mainly a concern for new homeowners. Cicadas will lay their eggs inside of tree branches and the bark of trees. This could lead to branches dying and falling off. 

Mrs. Beiser says, “A major recommendation right now for young trees or young shrubs is to put netting around them because that’s where the female will lay their eggs. It won’t necessarily kill those plants, but people should be aware that if they have those things at home, they may kill sections of your tree, but probably not the whole thing. So if you want to prepare, it would be good to do this before they attack.” Many gardening and home improvement stores sell garden netting.

Senior Cristin Pennington, on the other hand,  is very excited to see them: “I used to pick their shells off of my tree and bring them to my mom. I’m looking forward to seeing them out for the first time that I can remember” She said she isn’t too nervous about them at graduation, however, she knows how annoying they can be.