Recently, many have discussed a so-called “cicada apocalypse” or “explosion of bugs” happening this year in the United States, during which two large broods of the insects will co-emerge at the same time. Cicadas are special insects that grow primarily underground, then emerge for breeding season in the late spring and summertime and are most known for their loud calls that male cicadas make to attract their female mates. Here in Florida, we do have a fair number of these interesting bugs, but the local cicada story is a little more complex than I was expecting.

Cicadas fall within two categories depending on how long they stay underground and when they emerge: periodical and annual cicadas. According to University of Florida, annual cicadas technically take a few years to grow underground, but they can still be seen every year as at least some members of the population are ready to emerge. Periodical cicadas are on specifically defined cycles, which, in the case of the seven periodical cicada species found in the United States, are either 17-year or 13-year cycles.

According to Cicada Safari, when the cicadas emerge, the group is classified into a brood, which were given numbers using Roman numerals in the 1890s by scientists in the Department of Agriculture. Since then, 15 broods have been described, including three 13-year cicada broods and 12 of the 17-year cicada broods. In 2024, scientists have predicted that the 13-year Brood XIII and 17-year Brood XIX will emerge at the same time because their cycles became synchronized, which is an event that is quite rare and only occurs every 221 years. We are expecting trillions of cicadas to emerge this summer, and some have already come out in April and May.

However, the periodical cicada species are primarily found within the more northern United States. There are no periodical cicada species here in Florida. According to University of Florida, there are still 19 annual species that can be heard every year. One species, the Keys or mangrove cicada (Diceroprocta biconical), is primarily found in Florida and Cuba and live within the high tidal zone and on black mangroves especially, according to a study from 2004.

These Florida annual cicadas are not a part of the two broods with synchronized 2024 emergences that have been hyped up in the media. They are entirely different species, and the cicada calls that we are hearing in Florida currently and will continue to hear throughout the summer can be heard every year.

Given this, why am I and other locals I have talked to taking special note of the Florida cicadas calling? They have been there all along, and even though I have lived in Florida for seven years now, why am I now just noticing them? Perhaps because of what psychologists call the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon or the frequency illusion. A bias in cognitive thinking, you notice something new to you and become hyperaware of that thing, beginning to see it frequently in your life, even though there is technically no increase in occurrence. I hypothesize that because the cicada apocalypse was so prevalent in the media a few months back, some of us Floridians are paying more attention to these bugs than we may have in recent years.

So, perhaps these insects with their incessant buzzing are driving us a little bit crazy. Or, maybe they are just making us listen a little bit closer to nature with or without realizing it, and I see that as a pretty neat phenomenon much more interesting than a cicada apocalypse.

Celina Ceballos is a graduate student in the Master of Science in Environmental Science at Florida Gulf Coast University, studying red tide’s impact on sea turtles and manatee physiology. She graduated from Eckerd College with a marine science degree, minoring in journalism, and has many accolades including a national Fulbright Scholarship and a Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education. With extensive research experience in several of Florida’s habitats, an educational background as a camp counselor and nature guide, and involvement in local scientific organizations, Ceballos is eager to share her knowledge and wisdom about various local scientific topics.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: What’s all the buzz about? A complicated cicada story