Wildlife · Insects & Invertebrates
Cicadas
Cicadas are among the loudest and most dramatic insects in North America, turning summer afternoons into a chorus that can stop a hiker mid-trail. Learn how to find them, identify their calls, and watch one of nature's great spectacles up close.
This Outside family field-guide page covers cicadas, focusing on identification, habitat, behavior, and the periodic emergence events that make them memorable for American families. It explains the difference between annual and periodical cicadas, where and when families encounter them across the eastern and central United States, and includes wow facts, respectful viewing tips, and the ecological role cicadas play in forest ecosystems. The page is from Outside, the family adventure app built around National Parks-inspired outdoor exploration.
| Cost | Free |
|---|---|
| Region | Eastern and central United States, most common east of the Great Plains |
| Season | Late June through August (annual); spring emergence for periodical broods |
| Best age | 4 and up |
| Difficulty | Easy |
What you are looking at
Cicadas are stout, blunt-headed insects with two pairs of clear, vein-laced wings that fold flat along their backs like miniature stained-glass windows. Most American species are roughly an inch to an inch and a half long. Their eyes are wide-set and copper or red, giving them an unmistakably alien face that kids tend to find either fascinating or hilarious. The body is usually black or dark brown with yellow or green markings along the thorax. When a cicada lands on a tree trunk and holds still, it blends in remarkably well, so look for the wing outline catching the light. Shed exoskeletons, called exuviae, cling to bark and fence posts long after the adults have moved on, and collecting these papery husks is one of the best low-stakes nature activities a young kid can do on a summer walk.
Where and when families find them
Annual cicadas appear somewhere in the continental United States every summer, typically from late June through August, and they are most common east of the Great Plains. Wooded neighborhoods, state parks, and the edges of hardwood forests are prime spots. You will hear them long before you see them, usually starting in the hottest part of the afternoon. Periodical cicadas are a separate group found in the eastern United States that spend years underground before emerging by the billions in a single spectacular event. These emergences are tied to specific broods with 13-year or 17-year cycles, and they are mapped and tracked by scientists, which means a family can plan ahead and visit a known emergence zone. When a periodical emergence is on, even a short walk in a suburban woodlot can feel like standing inside a living rainstorm of insects.
The sound and what makes it
Only male cicadas sing, and they do it with a pair of ribbed membranes called tymbals, located on the sides of the abdomen. Muscles click these membranes in and out dozens of times per second, and the hollow abdomen amplifies the sound the way a guitar body amplifies a string. A chorus of cicadas can reach volumes comparable to a lawnmower measured up close, which is remarkable for an insect you can hold in one hand. Different species have distinct calls, ranging from a rising whine to a rhythmic pulsing rattle. Older kids enjoy the challenge of matching a sound to a species using a field-guide recording, while younger kids are usually satisfied just discovering that the tree they are standing under is the source of the noise.
Two facts kids will repeat at the dinner table
First, periodical cicadas spend the majority of their lives underground as nymphs, feeding on fluids from tree roots, before tunneling up to molt into adults. The adults live only a matter of weeks above ground. The underground phase, depending on the brood, lasts either 13 or 17 years, which means a child who witnesses a periodical emergence may be in college, or have kids of their own, before that same brood returns.
Second, cicadas are an important food source for a wide range of animals during an emergence, including birds, squirrels, and even some fish in waterways near heavily wooded areas. The sheer numbers mean that predators eat their fill and the cicadas still complete their life cycle. Scientists call this strategy predator satiation, which sounds complicated but means: show up in such overwhelming numbers that the predators simply cannot keep up.
How to watch without disturbing them
Cicadas are not aggressive and do not sting or bite in any meaningful way. A child can let one walk across an open palm and get a close look at the wings and eyes without any concern. The etiquette here is really about patience. Move slowly near a tree where you can hear singing, and the cicada will often stay put long enough for a good look. Resist the urge to grab one mid-song, because the sound stops instantly and the insect usually drops to the ground. Instead, find one perched on a low branch or fence rail and approach gradually from the side. Bringing a hand lens turns the experience from a sighting into a proper field examination. Exuviae are the easiest subjects of all since they are not going anywhere, and they show every detail of the nymph's former body in satisfying clarity.
What cicadas do for the forest
Cicadas are a genuine ecological engine. When a periodical emergence ends and millions of adults die, their bodies decompose quickly and return a significant pulse of nitrogen to the soil, which benefits the very trees their nymphs fed on underground. The emergence tunnels they leave also aerate the soil around root systems. Year after year, annual cicadas contribute to the same cycle on a smaller scale. Their role as prey connects them to nearly every level of the food web, from ground beetles that eat newly emerged nymphs to hawks that hunt adults in the canopy. Watching a single cicada is a small window into a system that has been running, largely unchanged, for tens of millions of years. Fossil cicadas look almost identical to the ones outside your window this August.
Find a cicada exuviae on a tree or fence and sketch it as carefully as you can, noting every detail you see. Then write three sentences about what you think life underground for 13 or 17 years would feel like, and what you would want to do first on the day you finally came out.
Frequently asked questions
Are cicadas dangerous to kids or pets?
Cicadas do not sting and rarely bite. They are harmless to handle. Pets that eat large numbers during a periodical emergence may get an upset stomach simply from overeating, but the insects themselves are not toxic.
How do I know if a periodical cicada emergence is happening near me?
Periodical cicada broods are tracked by universities and government agencies, and emergence maps are published online well in advance. Searching for the current brood year and your state will turn up detailed maps showing which counties expect activity and roughly when.
Why do cicadas make so much noise?
Male cicadas sing to attract females. The sound is produced by vibrating ribbed membranes called tymbals on the abdomen, amplified by a largely hollow body cavity. Each species has a distinct call, and males of the same species often chorus together, which multiplies the volume dramatically.
What are those brown shells stuck to tree bark?
Those are exuviae, the shed exoskeletons left behind when cicada nymphs crawl out of the ground, climb a tree, and molt into their adult winged form. They are completely harmless and make excellent close-up subjects for young naturalists. A single tree can have dozens clinging to its bark during an active emergence.