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It’s a big year for cicadas. Here’s what to know about this year’s emergence

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, periodical cicadas offer nature watching at its friendliest

A cicada on a leaf

Spotted in early May, this cicada on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill is just one of the many, many, many of its kind emerging from the ground this year.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

By Susan Milius

One of the most peculiar of North America’s natural wonders — the synchronized mass mating frenzies of big, obsessed insects called periodical cicadas — is playing out across the southeastern and midwestern United States.