In 2024, something special will happen to cicadas in the United States. This spring, two different broods of cicadas, one that lives on a 13-year cycle and the other that lives on a 17-year cycle, will emerge at the same time throughout the Midwest and Southeast. This has not happened in 221 years. The last time was in 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president. The two groups are Brood XIII and Brood XIX. These two Broods happen to make their homes adjacent to each other, with a narrow area of overlap in central Illinois. This will not happen again for another 221 years.
Cicadas have always meant something special to me. I grew up in Washington DC, and the first time I encountered cicadas was when I was a teenager in 1987. That year, Brood X, a 17-year cycle group, emerged in the billions, flying every which way and making a great noise. The next emergence was in 2004. I still lived in the DC area, but now I was married and parent to a small child. There were fewer cicadas, but it still seemed like a big event. In 2021, the cicadas of Brood X returned to DC, but I was not there. I live in Central New York now, where it’s too cold for most types of cicadas. The next time there will be cicadas in DC, it will be 2038.
In some ways, I have measured my life in conjunction with the life cycle of the cicadas of Brood X. Over the years I have written several stories that either take inspiration from cicadas or even feature actual cicadas as characters. The first one is below, under the working title “The Brood.” It tries to answer the question, what would happen if two broods with different year cycles met?
The Periodical Cicada 
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