Kentucky Braces for Big Brood: Cicadas Coming Soon

The dawn of another cycle of the cicada is about to descend upon America, which means that millions are readying themselves for what should be a historic bout of the cyclical flying insect species that emerges from the soil in 13-and-17-year increments.

This summer is one of those intervals, with both cycles lining up for the first time in two centuries, which means that Americans from sea to shining sea are digging into the internet’s best news sources to dig up as much information about the insects as possible.

In late May and into June, periodical cicadas will be emerging from under the ground in parts of the United States. This year, for the first time in 200 years, two different broods with 13-year and 17-year life cycles are emerging at once – meaning, a lot of cicadas. As a significant ecological event, BetKentucky.com - where we occasionally branch out from Kentucky sports betting - wanted to see what states are most alert for the impending cicada emergence.

Note: The search period was a 24-hour search done on May 13, 2024.

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States Most Alert for Cicadas

Rank	State	Search Interest Score
1	Missouri	100
2	Tennessee	85
3	Illinois	55
4	Alabama	51
5	South Carolina	27
6	North Carolina	25
7	Arkansas	18
8	Kentucky	17
9	Virginia	15
10	Mississippi	14

Across America, few states have more of an interest in cicada information online as the Bluegrass State, with Kentucky’s search interest score of 17 ranking eighth nationally, ahead of Virginia (15 search interest score) and behind Arkansas (18 search interest score).

Kentucky’s total fell well short of the leaders in cicada interest nationally, however, with Missouri (100 search interest score), Tennessee (85 search interest score) and Illinois (55 search interest score) leading the way, followed by Alabama (51 search interest score), South Carolina (27 search interest score) and North Carolina (25 search interest score).

Later this summer when the pests from the dirt return to the state after a long siesta, it’s worth remembering for Kentucky residents that their interest in finding out more about their temporary guests is not without merit, given how much Americans are digging into the web to find out about the rare insect species at the moment.

USA Today photo by Michael Sears.

Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetKentucky.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.