Billions of Brood X Cicadas are Emerging This Summer: See Photos of the 17-Year Phenomenon

Cicadas climb a tree outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 20.

The insects that are part of Brood X, also known as the Great Eastern Brood, are expected to emerge in about 18 states, including in and around the Washington, D.C., area, Northern Virginia and Maryland, the New York Times reports. They are also expected to emerge in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, New Jersey and New York.

Brood X cicadas are seen emerging from the ground and climbing a tree in Kettering, Ohio

In Lanham, Maryland, Veri Tas and the Biedrzycki family collect cicadas from all around their home in nets on May 17.

In Takoma Park, Maryland, young trees are getting covered in netting to prevent them from getting damaged by cicadas laying their eggs on them.

Huge clusters of dying and dead cicadas cast off their nymph shells at the base of a tree in Columbia, Maryland, on June 3.

Cicadas are seen climbing a tombstone at the Church of the Redeener in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on May 25.

Cicadas and their exoskeleton cover a sign in front of the Nolde Mansion at the Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center in Cumru Township, Pennsylvania, on May 24.

Magicicada periodical cicadas, which are members of Brood X, takeover a plant at Fairland Recreational Park in Burtonsville, Maryland, on June 1.

Postdoctoral entomologist Zoe Getman-Pickering examines the creatures climbing a tree at the Woodend Sanctuary on May 20 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. 

Chef Bun Lai collects cicadas to cook with at Fort Totten Park in Washington, D.C., on May 23. The chef, a leader in the sustainable food movement, hopes cooking cicadas will help open people up to alternative ways to eating that are less destructive than traditional farming. (Yes, you can cook with them, but if you have shellfish allergies, you probably shouldn't.)