Brood XIII

Periodical cicada brood

Map of periodic cicada broods with Brood XIII shown in brown Brood XIII Magicicada Brood XIII Magicicada molting from its old exoskeleton

Brood XIII (also known as Brood 13 or Northern Illinois Brood) is one of 15 separate broods of periodical cicadas that appear regularly throughout the midwestern United States. Every 17 years, Brood XIII tunnels en masse to the surface of the ground, mates, lays eggs in tree twigs, and then dies off over several weeks.

Entomologist Charles Lester Marlatt published an account in 1907 in which he postulated the existence of 30 broods. The number has since been consolidated, and only 15 broods of periodical cicadas are currently recognized. Of these, twelve (Broods I through X, XIII, and XIV) are 17-year broods and three (Broods XIX, XXII, and XXIII) are 13-year broods.[1] Brood XI is extinct and Brood XII is not currently recognized as a brood of 17-year cicadas.[2]

The 4 cm (1.6 in) long black bugs do not sting or bite. Once they emerge, they spend their two-week lives climbing trees, shedding their exoskeletons and reproducing. Brood XIII can number up to 1.5 million per acre (3.7 million per hectare). The brood is reputed to be the largest emergence of cicadas known anywhere.[3]

The brood's most recent major emergence occurred during the spring and early summer of 2024, throughout an area roughly enclosed by northern Illinois, eastern Iowa, southern Wisconsin, and a narrow strip of Indiana bordering Lake Michigan and Michigan.[3] A premature emergence occurred in 2020.[4] The brood will emerge again in late May 2041.[2][3][5]

## Ravinia

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In the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park, there was a concern about whether the cicadas's sounds might drown out the music at the Ravinia Festival during May and June, the peak months of cicada activity in 2007. According to the Chicago Tribune, Ravinia adjusted the schedule so that Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) concerts took place in July, after the emergence had ended. Apart from the CSO concerts, all other events took place as scheduled.[6]

## 2020 Sub-Brood

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Some of the Northern Illinois Sub-Brood (part of Marlatt's XIII) cicadas emerge 4 years early, as they did in the Chicago area during 2020.[4]

## 2024 emergence

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Brood XIII of the 17-year cicada, which reputably has the largest emergence of cicadas by size known anywhere, and Brood XIX of the 13-year cicada, arguably the largest (by geographic extent) of all periodical cicada broods, were expected to emerge together in 2024 for the first time since 1803. However, the two broods were not expected to overlap except potentially in a thin area in central and eastern Illinois (Macon, Sangamon, Livingston, and Logan counties). Therefore, the density of cicadas in most areas would likely have been the same as usual.[7] The next such dual emergence is expected to occur in 2245, 221 years after 2024.[8]

## Pests and parasites

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Pyemotes herfsi bites

After the 2007 Brood XIII emergence had ended, many people in Chicago's suburbs reported in early August the development of rashes, pustules, intense itching and other skin conditions on their upper torso, head, neck and arms. Rashes and itching peaked after several days, but lasted as long as two weeks. Anti-itch treatments, including calamine lotion and topical steroid creams, did not relieve the itching.[9]

Edmond Zaborski, a research scientist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, then discovered that the skin conditions had resulted from oak leaf gall mite ("itch mite") (Pyemotes herfsi) bites. Zaborski further found that the mites were ectoparasites whose numbers had increased while feeding on the brood's eggs.[9]

The mites usually feed on oak leaf gall midge (Polystepha pilulae) larvae and other insects, but, as Zaborski found, also parasitize periodical cicada eggs when those are available. Similar events occurred in Cincinnati after a Brood XIV emergence ended in 2008,[10] in Cleveland and elsewhere in northern and eastern Ohio after a Brood V emergence ended in 2016,[11] in the Washington, D.C., area after a Brood X emergence ended in 2021,[12] and again in the Chicago area after the next Brood XIII emergence ended in 2024.[13]

## Gallery

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* Brood XIII Magicicada in various stages of molting.

* Brood XIII instar

* Newly molted Brood XIII

* A group of Brood XIII Magicicada on a bush

* Brood XIII in Westchester, Illinois, on June 21, 2007

* Brood XIII Magicicada at Brookfield Zoo in May 2024

* Brood XIII at Springbrook Nature Center, Itasca in June 2024

## References

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1. ^ Susan L. Post. "A Trill of a Lifetime". Illinois Natural History Survey. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
2. ^ a b David Marshall, John Cooley, Chris Simon (2024). "Magicicada broods and distributions". Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Cicadas. Storrs, Connecticut: University of Connecticut. Retrieved 2024-01-25.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. ^ a b c Schuster, James; Nixon, Philip. "Timed to perfection: Cicada's biological clock determines emergence". Insects: Cicadas. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences: Illinois Extension. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024. "The northern Illinois brood, which will emerge in late May 2024, has a reputation for the largest emergence of cicadas known anywhere. This is due to the size of the emergence and the research and subsequent reporting over the years by entomologists Monte Lloyd and Henry Dybas at the Field Museum in Chicago. During the 1956 emergence, they counted an average of 311 nymphal emergence holes per square yard of ground in a forested floodplain near Chicago. This translates to 1½ million cicadas per acre. In upland sites, they recorded 27 emergence holes per square yard, translating to about 133,000 per acre. This number is more typical of emergence numbers but is still a tremendous number of insects. .... 2020 | Northern Illinois Sub-Brood (part of Marlatt's XIII)"
4. ^ a b "Chicago Area Periodical Cicada Emergences in 2020". Cicada Mania. 12 July 2020. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
5. ^ "Genus Magicidada: periodical cicadas". Singing Insects of North America. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
6. ^ "Cicadas' Return Worries Festival Organizer". NPR. 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
7. ^ Multiple sources:
* "2024 Cicada Forecast". Cicada Mania. February 10, 2024. Archived from the original on March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024. "Both Brood XIX and XIII exist in Macon, Sangamon, Livingston and Logan counties in Illinois. The easily accessible place they come closest to overlapping is Springfield, Illinois, which is in Sangamon County."
* "Genus Magicidada: periodical cicadas". Singing Insects of North America. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
* Schuster, James; Nixon, Philip. "Timed to perfection: Cicada's biological clock determines emergence". Insects: Cicadas. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences: Illinois Extension. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024. "The northern Illinois brood, which will emerge in late May 2024, has a reputation for the largest emergence of cicadas known anywhere. This is due to the size of the emergence and the research and subsequent reporting over the years by entomologists Monte Lloyd and Henry Dybas at the Field Museum in Chicago. During the 1956 emergence, they counted an average of 311 nymphal emergence holes per square yard of ground in a forested floodplain near Chicago. This translates to 1½ million cicadas per acre. In upland sites, they recorded 27 emergence holes per square yard, translating to about 133,000 per acre. This number is more typical of emergence numbers but is still a tremendous number of insects."
* "The 2024 Periodical Cicada Emergence". Biodiversity Research Collections: Periodical Cicada Information Pages. Storrs, Connecticut: University of Connecticut. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024. "In 2024, 13-year Brood XIX, which is the largest of all periodical cicada broods, will co-emerge with 17-year Brood XIII; these two broods are adjacent (but not significantly overlapping) in north-central Illinois."
* "Brood XIX: The Great Southern Brood". Biodiversity Research Collections: Periodical Cicada Information Pages. Storrs, Connecticut: University of Connecticut. 21 February 2017. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024. "Brood XIX is arguably the largest (by geographic extent) of all periodical cicada broods, with records along the east coast from Maryland to Georgia and in the Midwest from Iowa to Oklahoma."
8. ^ Multiple sources:
* Ortiz, Aimee (January 19, 2024). "The World Hasn't Seen Cicadas Like This Since 1803". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024. "Brood XIX and Brood XIII will both emerge this spring. The last time these bugs showed up at the same time in the United States, Thomas Jefferson was president. After this spring, it'll be another 221 years before the broods, which are geographically adjacent, appear together again."
* "Genus Magicidada: periodical cicadas". Singing Insects of North America. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
9. ^ a b Multiple sources:
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (September 2005). "Outbreak of pruritic rashes associated with mites – Kansas, 2004". Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMDR Weekly). Atlanta, Georgia. PMID 16195693. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
* Keith, David; Karstens, Sandi Alswager (May 2, 2005). "Itch Mites Are Back, Entomologist Warns". IANR News Story. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska - Lincoln: Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007.
* Keith, David; Moser, Dan (July 15, 2005). "Itch Mite Population About to Increase, Entomologist Warns". IANR News Story. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska - Lincoln: Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on May 9, 2006.
* Broce, Alberto B.; Zurek, Ludek; Kalisch, James A.; et al. (May 2006). "Pyemotes herfsi (Acari: Pyemotidae), a Mite New to North America as the Cause of Bite Outbreaks" (PDF). Journal of Medical Entomology. 43 (3): 610–613\. doi:10.1093/jmedent/43.3.610. PMID 16739423. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
* "Mite invasion tied to cicada cycle". Chicago Tribune. September 30, 2007. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024. First report of Pyemotes herfsi parasitism on periodical cicada eggs.
* Broce, Alberto B.; Kalisch, James (October 2007). "Oak leaf itch mite" (PDF). Pests That Affect Human Health. Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service. MF-2806. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011.
* Zaborski, Edmond R. (May 20, 2008). "2007 Outbreak of Human Pruritic Dermatitis in Chicago, Illinois Caused by an Itch Mite, Pyemotes herfsi (Oudemans, 1936) (Acarina: Heterostigmata: Pyemotidae". Illinois Natural History Survey Technical Report. Champaign, Illinois: Illinois Natural History Survey. NHS Technical Report 2008 (17). Archived from the original on January 28, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
* Zaborski, Edmond R. (May 20, 2008). "Itch Mite Update: Conclusions from "2007 Outbreak of Human Pruritic Dermatitis in Chicago, Illinois Caused by an Itch Mite, Pyemotes herfsi": Illinois Natural History Survey Technical Report 2008 (17)". Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Department of Public Health. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
* Cloyd, Raymond (November 3, 2016). "Oak Leaf Itch Mite". Extension Entomology. Manhattan, Kansas: Kansas State University Department of Entomology. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
* DeVoe, Jo (July 28, 2021). "Residents Abuzz Over Mysterious Bug Bites Possibly Tied to Cicadas". ARLnow. Arlington County, Virginia. Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
* Wilder, Drew (July 30, 2021). "Mysterious, Nasty Bug Bites Stump Arlington Health Officials". NBC4 Washington. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2024. Contains 1:38 minute video showing images and descriptions of Pyemotes herfsi bites.
* Silverman, Ellie (July 30, 2021). "Oak-mite bites: Cicadas may have left D.C. region an itchy gift". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
* Shrewsbury, Paula (August 13, 2021). "Oak Leaf Itch Mites and Periodical Cicada Eggs". University of Maryland Extension. University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
10. ^ Multiple sources:
* Shetlar, Dave (August 29, 2016). "Oak Itch Mites Attack!". Buckeye Yard and Garden Online. Ohio State University Extension, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024. "Folks in Northeastern Ohio complain of itchy welts on their heads, neck and upper torso. The oak itch mite, Pyemotes herfsi, has been identified as the culprit. The last time Ohio suffered an outbreak was in 2008 in the Cincinnati area. At that time, walkers, joggers and cyclists were complaining that when they followed trails that were overhung by oak trees, they would end up with itchy welts the following day. At that time, the oak itch mite had been recorded as being a periodic pest from Nebraska to Texas and eastward to Tennessee. The bites were most common in July and August, but the following summer, there were no complaints!"
* "Cincinnati braces for cicada swarm". The Columbus Dispatch. Columbus, Ohio. April 30, 2008. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024. "Cicadas, those big, noisy, clumsy, red-eyed bugs that periodically swarm sections of Ohio, will be emerging again in just a few weeks. This year's infestation will be the heaviest in Cincinnati-area neighborhoods around and east of I-71, experts say. ... In all, the cicadas will swarm throughout south central Ohio, the entire eastern half of Kentucky and parts of 10 other states. These are the babies of the cicada family named Brood XIV. Known as 17-year cicadas, their last emergence occurred in 1991."
* Cooley, John R.; Kritsky, Gene; Edwards, Marten J.; et al. (Fall 2011). "Periodical cicadas Periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.): A GIS-based map of Broods XIV in 2008 and "XV" in 2009". American Entomologist. 57 (3): 144–150\. doi:10.1093/ae/57.3.144. "The largest section of Brood XIV was found in a contiguous region roughly occupying portions of the Ohio Valley, part of the Cumberland Plateau, and the mountains to its south and east."
11. ^ Multiple sources:
* Johnson, Mark (Scripps National Desk) (August 24, 2016). "Those red bites on your arm might be Oak Mites". ABC Action News. Tampa, Florida. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
* Bamforth, Emily (August 24, 2016). "Introducing the oak itch mite: Chigger-like bites on upper body confuse Clevelanders". Cleveland.com. Cleveland, Ohio. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
* Shetlar, Dave (August 29, 2016). "Oak Itch Mites Attack!". Buckeye Yard and Garden Online. Ohio State University Extension, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
* United States Department of Agriculture. "2016 Forest Health Highlights: Ohio" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2024. "Periodical Cicadas: Brood V of the 17-year periodical cicadas emerged across much of eastern Ohio in the spring of 2016. Peak activity for the cicadas was during most of the month of June."
12. ^ Multiple sources
* DeVoe, Jo (July 28, 2021). "Residents Abuzz Over Mysterious Bug Bites Possibly Tied to Cicadas". ARLnow. Arlington County, Virginia. Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
* Wilder, Drew (July 30, 2021). "Mysterious, Nasty Bug Bites Stump Arlington Health Officials". NBC4 Washington. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2024. Contains a 1:38 minute video showing images and descriptions of Pyemotes herfsi bites.
* Silverman, Ellie (July 30, 2021). "Oak-mite bites: Cicadas may have left D.C. region an itchy gift". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
* Vargas, Steven (August 4, 2021). "Cicadas may be gone, but here come itch mites causing mysterious bites in Washington, DC, region". USA Today. Tysons, Virginia. Archived from the original on August 11, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
* Shrewsbury, Paula (August 13, 2021). "Oak Leaf Itch Mites and Periodical Cicada Eggs". University of Maryland Extension. University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
* Tan, Shen Wu (August 24, 2021). "Oak mites making D.C.-area residents itchy; tiny bugs feed on cicadas". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
13. ^ Multiple sources:
* Lowe, Mike; Lutz, BJ (August 7, 2024). "Mystery bug bites have some across Chicagoland itching for answers". WGN9. Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
* Fisher, Alex (August 28, 2024). "How long should you watch for mite bites in Chicago area?: Across the Chicago area, seemingly mysterious bug bites have been on the rise in recent weeks". NBC 5 Chicago. Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on September 2, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024. "According to cicada expert Dr. Gene Kritsky with Mount St. Joseph University, a particular mite known as the "oak leaf itch mite" can be seen in large amounts following a cicada emergence. Kritsky noted that in 2007, "people in Chicago who had oak trees in the yards, started to complain of bites after the cicada emergence." "It turned out that the oak itch mite was found in the egg nests of Brood XIII cicadas," Kritsky told NBC Chicago. That same brood was one of the two to emerge in Illinois during 2024's historic event, which Kritsky described as "biblical.""

## External links

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* Brood XIII map

* v
* t
* e

Periodic cicada broods

17-year|

* Brood I
* Brood II
* Brood III
* Brood IV
* Brood V
* Brood VI
* Brood VII
* Brood VIII
* Brood IX
* Brood X
* Brood XI
* Brood XIII
* Brood XIV

13-year|

* Brood XIX
* Brood XXI
* Brood XXII
* Brood XXIII

Related|

* Cicada

Italics indicate extinct broods.
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*[t]: Discuss this template
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