These Insects are Coming Back to Arizona!

Arizona is no stranger to creepy crawlies. Whether it be the spiders hidden under rocks or scorpions chasing you down your hiking trail, most Arizona residents are no strangers to minuscule, multi-legged nuisances.

Coming up soon, however, a new insect emerges from its hibernation, and this year's wake-up call will be unlike any other.

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Cicadas

Cicadas are an insect that relies on hibernation to survive, spending a large portion of their lifespan underground to avoid predators. The bug is about two inches long with six legs and wings, but most notable is the sound of its mating call.

The shrill shriek can be heard from hundreds of yards away and soon becomes a consistent drone. This is the most tell-tale sign that cicadas have woken up, as they tend to avoid humans, and do not pose a major threat to us.

Cicadas do not sting or bite, and their reliance on hot, desolate places makes finding them a difficult task.

Monsoon Mediums

Because of their emergence in late May/early June, many have connected the deafening noise of the Cicada to the beginning of monsoon season. While Cicadas do not inherently know when the rains will begin to fall on Arizona's desert landscape, their preference for dry heat usually lines up with the conditions that predate monsoons.

Cicada-geddon

2024 is a fascinating year for the Cicada, seeing overlapping 'broods' (wake-up times) across the United States. This will be the largest emergence of the species since 1803, but will this cacophony of Cicada calls make its way to the Arizona deserts?

Luckily, the answer is no. The Cicadas making noise in national headlines exclusively reside in the Southeast and Midwest. These specific bugs hibernate for 13 and 17 years and will be waking up at the same time, while Arizona's Cicadas appear annually.

So don't worry about a massive upswing in Cicadas this year, but when the sky starts screaming, it may be time to invest in a new umbrella.