ROCHESTER, N.Y. — If you were wondering why you haven’t seen any cicadas in the Rochester area this summer, you’re not alone. Jean asked us: “What ever happened to the cicadas? Have not seen a single one.”

Some cicada broods emerge every 13 years, while others emerge every 17 years. This summer, Brood 13 and Brood 19 are emerging at the same time for the first time since 1803. However, these broods are not expected to appear in the Rochester area, explained Laura Gaenzler, a Community Science Coordinator with the Seneca Park Zoo and an expert on cicadas.

“The periodic cicadas actually weren’t supposed to show up really around here, it was more southeast toward the west coast sort of areas,” she said.

For periodic cicadas in the Finger Lakes region, this summer was simply not their time.

“Depending on where you live, warmer areas, you’re going to get cicadas popping up a lot sooner than up here, where our soil temperature stays a lot cooler for a lot longer,” Gaenzler explained.

Cicadas will wait until the ground is about 64 degrees before they emerge. The last time a brood emerged in the Finger Lakes was in 2018, and they won’t be seen again until 2035.

While periodic cicadas are not thriving in the area right now, there are plenty of annual cicadas around. When the periodic cicadas do eventually emerge, they average roughly one million bugs per acre of land, so they will be hard to miss.

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