Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years? - Periodical Cicadas Overrun the Forest

The biggest insect emergence on the planet is underway - after an absence of 17 years the next batch of Periodical Cicadas will grace the Forest for just a mere few days. For the Turtle and other Forest inhabitants this will be one very rare but ultimately satisfying banquet.

The 17-year cicadas are species of periodical cicadas, a group of homopterans with the longest known insect life cycle. The largest brood makes its appearance every 17 years, like clockwork, in the northeastern quarter of the United States. Shortly after a 17-year cicada nymph hatches from its egg, it burrows into the ground, where it spends—as its name suggests—the first 17 years of its life. When it emerges from the ground, it lives only four to six more weeks—just long enough to mate, fertilize or lay eggs, and start the cycle all over again.