A whole year has passed since the Great Midwestern Emergence of Periodical Cicadas of 2007, which this blog monitored. This year’s emergence is taking place in the Eastern and Southeastern United States, and can be tracked through these websites:
Cicada Mania: http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/
College of Mount St. Joseph’s Cicada Web Site: http://inside.msj.edu/academics/faculty/kritskg/cicada/Site/Cicada_home.html
Magicicada.org: http://magicicada.org/magicicada.php
Sometimes, individuals or small groups of Periodical Cicadas may emerge one year late. Checking the College of Mt. St. Joseph’s emergence map for 2008, I did find one 2008 entry for the Chicago area (Winnetka, Illinois, May 14, 2008): http://inside.msj.edu/academics/faculty/kritskg/cicada/Site/Report_a_cicada.html (This map may take a few minutes to load.)
So, even though it’s one year after Chicago’s big emergence year, we will still be keeping out eyes and ears open for Periodical Cicadas in our area.