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The cicadas are coming

A periodical cicada, a member of Brood X, takes flight in the tree tops in Takoma Park, Maryland.
A periodical cicada, a member of Brood X, takes flight in the tree tops in Takoma Park, Maryland.

What has red eyes, lives underground for years, and screeches all summer long? 

The cicadas are here. And more are coming.

For the first time in over two hundred years, billions of cicadas are digging their way up from underground in a rare biological occurrence. 

Scientists are calling it a double brood emergence because two cicada broods will be above ground at the same time. 

Depending on where you live, you might have already seen them flying around or their infamous exoskeletons skins.

For this installment of Scientific Method, our series where we speak to experts about the latest in the science world, we’re talking about cicadas. 

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Haili Blassingame