People.com Human Interest Billions of Brood X Cicadas are Emerging This Summer: See Photos of the 17-Year Phenomenon While most cicadas have 13-year life cycles, Brood X is one of several periodical cicadas that emerge from the ground every 17 years By Diane J. Cho Diane J. Cho Diane J. Cho was the Features Editor of PEOPLE Digital from 2019 to 2022. She worked at the brand for nearly four years covering news, features, human interest, evergreen, holiday gift guides and more. She launched the How I Parent and What It's Really Like to Be …. digital series and has interviewed several celebrities and influential leaders within the entertainment industry. Prior to joining PEOPLE, Diane worked at Bustle, VH1 and Complex. She received her bachelor's degree in Journalism from Rutgers University and her master's degree from Columbia Journalism School. People Editorial Guidelines Published on June 9, 2021 04:53 PM Share Tweet Pin Email 01 of 10 Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty 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. 02 of 10 Whitney Saleski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Brood X cicadas are seen emerging from the ground and climbing a tree in Kettering, Ohio 03 of 10 Chip Somodevilla/Getty In Lanham, Maryland, Veri Tas and the Biedrzycki family collect cicadas from all around their home in nets on May 17. 04 of 10 Chip Somodevilla/Getty In Takoma Park, Maryland, young trees are getting covered in netting to prevent them from getting damaged by cicadas laying their eggs on them. 05 of 10 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Huge clusters of dying and dead cicadas cast off their nymph shells at the base of a tree in Columbia, Maryland, on June 3. 06 of 10 Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group/Daily Times via Getty Cicadas are seen climbing a tombstone at the Church of the Redeener in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on May 25. 07 of 10 Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty 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. 08 of 10 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Magicicada periodical cicadas, which are members of Brood X, takeover a plant at Fairland Recreational Park in Burtonsville, Maryland, on June 1. 09 of 10 ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Postdoctoral entomologist Zoe Getman-Pickering examines the creatures climbing a tree at the Woodend Sanctuary on May 20 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. 10 of 10 ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty 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.)