From NPR.

A rare brood of cicadas that comes like clockwork every 17 years has begun to emerge in the eastern half of the United States.

For the first time since 2008, Brood XIV is back, emerging in Tennessee, North Carolina and Ohio, eventually stretching from Georgia to Massachusetts. Considered the second biggest of the dozen-or-so known periodical broods, they develop underground before emerging by the billions — and that’s on top of annual cicadas that emerge every year.

Experts say the insects give big benefits, improving water filtration, giving birds an important food source, and with their above-ground-stay typically lasting just a few weeks, their decomposing bodies provide nutrition to the soil.

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