Illinois Cicadas: Did You Know That More Are Coming Soon?

I'm being told that cicadas can't read, so my attempts at sarcasm by using a photo that says "Welcome Back" will probably not have the intended effect of making the cicadas feel unwelcome and anxious about showing up in your yard or mine.

I know, you're probably saying that we've already done the cicada thing this year, so we're done, right? No, unfortunately we're not done yet.

We've just come through the big emergence event that people have been buzzing about for the past year, and for some people in certain parts of the state, it was a big deal with cicadas everywhere, making noise, mating, and peeing everywhere. In other spots, like my neighborhood, there were nearly zero cicadas coming out of the ground.

Now, it's almost time for round two.

Periodical Cicadas, The Ones That Stay Underground For Years And Years Before Emerging In A Big, Loud Show Have Pretty Much Concluded This Year's Emergence Cycle, But The Annual Cicadas Are Just Getting Started

You might know Illinois' annual cicadas by a different name: Dog Day Cicadas. There are several differences between the periodical cicadas that are dying off throughout Illinois, and the annual, or dog day, cicadas that you'll soon be hearing from. And, by soon, I mean starting right now in the month of July.

• Periodical cicadas are a little bit bigger than the annual cicadas
• Periodical cicadas are darker in color, have red eyes and orange coloring on their legs and in the veins of their wings
• Annual cicadas are slightly smaller, are gray-green in color, and don't feature the red eyes and orange-ish coloring of the periodicals
• Annual cicadas are called dog day cicadas because they come out during the heat of the summer, and generally stick around through September.

Other Than Life Cycles, Size, And Coloring, Illinois' Annual, Or Dog Day, Cicadas Do Have Something In Common With The Periodical Cicadas In Our State

That commonality is...well...let's just say it: Lust.

It seems as though all cicadas were put here for two reasons. One, make more cicadas. Two, provide food for literally any and everything that eats. That's about it.

Illinois' dog day cicadas do have one characteristic that you probably won't really care for, and that's volume. Annual cicadas are capable of producing louder mating calls that the periodical cicadas do.

However, there are less annual cicadas than periodical ones, so even though the annual cicadas are louder, there are less of them, so it might not seem as loud as it did when the periodical cicadas were calling for mates over the last month or so.