Where have you spotted cicadas in Centre County? Share your sightings with us

Cicada Brood XIV, the only brood of periodical cicadas that inhabit Centre County, are back this summer before they return to the ground in early July for another 17 years.

Members of the brood have been spotted in the Bellefonte area, where their screaming song of the males looking for mates was heard early this week along the Benner Pike.

Have you had sightings near your Centre County home? We’d like to know about it. Snap a photo of them and send it to us along with a few notes about what you saw and where. We may include it in a future story.

You can email your photos and videos to us at cdtnewstips@centredailly.com.

How to search for signs of cicada activity

Signs of cicada activity are easy to spot if you know what to look for:

Emergence holes. Cicadas will leave small holes about the size of a dime in a Swiss cheese pattern along the ground. Note the lack of a dirt mound around the hole, like you’d find with ant hills. In wetter soil conditions, they may build “cicada chimneys” as a way to keep water from back-filling their holes.

Look for shells. When cicadas first emerge, they’re still in their juvenile stage and need to molt their shell, really their exoskeleton, to reveal their developed body underneath.

Look for them near vertical surfaces. When a cicada first emerges, it’s vulnerable and needs to avoid ground-based predators or being stepped on. Dangling from a vertical surface also allows its soft body to harden and its wings to inflate with bodily fluids.

How to share your observations with citizen science projects

You can also help insect scientists study the emergence of Brood XIV by sharing your data. Download apps like Cicada Safari and iNaturalist to record and share your findings.