After 17 years underground, periodical cicadas may emerge this month in southcentral Kentucky, although it’s unclear how widespread they will be in the area.

Brood X, this year’s group of 17-year periodical cicadas, will appear in large numbers in Indiana, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Entomologists at the University of Kentucky said it’s unlikely the Brood X cicadas will be seen and heard throughout Kentucky. They will most likely emerge along the Kentucky-Tennessee border and in the counties west of Cincinnati that border the Ohio River.

Mammoth Cave National Park biologist Brice Leech believes the Brood X cicadas will arrive later this month or early in June and remain on the property for a few weeks.

“I will usually hear them first,” Leech said. “They make a lot of noise. It can be deafening.”

Leech said there are three 17-year cicada species – magicicada septendecim, magicicada septendecula and magicicada cassinii – that will rise from their burrows throughout the summer. Nymphs from each cicada species will climb a tree or fence post to shed their skin.

The cicadas become winged adults once they get rid of their nymph shell.

The loud, droning noises that Leech might hear throughout the Mammoth Cave property later this month come from male cicadas who want to mate with their female counterparts. After mating, female adult cicadas lay their eggs on the limbs of young trees.

“If you have young trees around where you live, you might want to cover the limbs,” Leech said.

Cicadas are harmless to humans, so people should not be worried about being stung or bitten.

Lost River Cave Executive Director Rho Lansden said employees on the property would likely not take action to protect vegetation from a cicada population.

“This naturally recurring phenomenon is interesting because of the large numbers, but harmless to the mature trees on our 72-acre park,” Lansden said.

“I’ve heard people call them locusts, but I wouldn’t make that comparison,” Leech said. “They’re not like the locusts in Egypt.”

Some cicadas might be consumed by larger creatures while they live above ground. Leech said moles and skunks eat cicadas, but they are not the most dangerous predator.

“People should watch out for copperhead snakes,” Leech said. “They love to eat cicadas.”

Cicadas will likely return in larger numbers in a few years, Leech said. A group known as Brood XIV, which emerges every 13 years, will emerge in western Kentucky in 2024. A 17-year brood of periodical cicadas known as Brood XIV is scheduled to appear in Bowling Green the following summer.

Leech said most species of cicadas in Kentucky appear annually. Annual cicadas have green and black features, while periodical cicadas have red eyes and orange wings.