Cicadas return in 2025: Will Pennsylvania see them?

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Although it won’t be like 2024’s “cicada-geddon,” some in the U.S. will see another round of the noisy insects again this year.

Brood XIV is more spread out than some others, meaning there could be large gaps between the affected areas, much like Brood XIX, which emerged across much of the eastern U.S. in 2024.

This year, portions of 13 states may be impacted by Brood XIV, the second-largest periodical brood of cicadas, according to the University of Connecticut.

The affected area stretches from Southern Ohio through Kentucky and Tennessee. Parts of West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina are also expected to see the cicadas in 2025. There are also patches of Brood XIV territory in northeast Georgia; central Pennsylvania; Long Island, New York; and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, according to the University of Connecticut.

The cicada brood’s territory runs up against state borders with Indiana, Maryland and New Jersey, so some cicadas could appear there as well.

Areas likely to see cicadas from Brood XIV are in bright green on the map below.

Cicadas usually emerge in late spring when the ground temperature reaches 64 degrees — for most states, that’s around May or June. After that, they will stick around for about 4-6 weeks.

Despite their loud mating songs and intimidating appearance, cicadas are not dangerous.

“All they do is just climb up on trees and pee. That’s as much damage as they do,” said Saad Bhamla, a professor at Georgia Tech College of Engineering.

Bhamla clarified that cicada pee is unlike mammalian pee in that it is largely water. “What’s coming out is just water. So you don’t have to worry, it isn’t like our human pee. It isn’t disgusting, it’s just water.”

If you thought 2024 was impressive, an even bigger adjacent joint emergence will be when the two largest broods, XIX and XIV, come out together in 2076, Cooley said: “That is the cicada-palooza.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.