If the high-pitched drone outside sounds familiar, it should. Cicadas are back in Georgia this spring— but before you start blaming the heat or your memory, here’s the deal: this is a different brood.
🗓️ What’s Happening: This time it’s Brood XIV, a group of periodical cicadas that shows up every 17 years like clockwork. Residents across parts of north and northeast Georgia—think Dahlonega, Lake Burton, and stretches around metro Atlanta—are now spotting the latest round of red-eyed party crashers emerging from the ground.
But just last year, much of Georgia saw Brood XIX, a 13-year brood also known as the “Great Southern Brood.” So yes, if it feels like we’ve been here before—it’s because we have. Different cicadas. Different life cycles. Same loud summer vibes.
🧬 Why It Matters: Periodical cicadas are not your everyday backyard bugs. These creatures spend more than a decade underground before bursting out for a few wild weeks of noise, mating, egg-laying, and ultimately, dying off.
And while they don’t bite or sting—or frankly care much about humans—their egg-laying habits can damage young trees. Female cicadas cut small slits into branches to lay their eggs, which can weaken or kill saplings.
🌳 Take Action: Got young trees in your yard? Experts recommend wrapping them in fine mesh netting until early July to keep cicadas from nesting there. It’s also a good idea to hold off planting any new trees until the swarm is over.
📅 What’s Next: Brood XIV’s reign of noise should taper off by late June or early July. After that, they’ll disappear underground for another 17 years—just in time for your kids to forget this ever happened.
So maybe let them live their best six-week life. After all, they’ve been waiting almost two decades for it.
