CINCINNATI — The Brood X cicadas are set to return after 17 years starting in May.

Dr. Gene Kritsky is a local expert in entomology who knows all things about this insect. He said expect huge numbers to emerge.  

“All of western Ohio, probably 5 - 6 billion,” Kritsky said. 

Kritsky said the Brood X cicadas will appear in 15 states across the country starting at the beginning of May and western Ohio will be a very popular spot for these insects. 

“It’s most intense and large in southwest Ohio, Hamilton County, Butler County and those,” he said. “And as you move farther north they become much more sparse and patchy in their distribution. But they’ve occurred from the southern part of Ohio all the way to the northern part of the state.” 

Kritsky said he’s excited about this year’s Brood because there is a new tool at his disposal to research the insects — the Cicada Safari app. 

Seventeen years ago apps didn’t exist, but now that so many people have smartphones, they can help track where the insects are emerging. 

“If you find a cicada on that tree, you take a picture,” Kritsky said. “You send it with the little paper airplane icon, that sends it to us.”

He said the metadata from the photo allows Mount St. Joseph University to track the cicadas. 

The app is free to download on both Apple and Android smartphones.

Kritsky said while the cicadas will be annoying to most people, he wants to remind people that they are gentle creatures.  

“They’re harmless to humans,” he said. “They can, in the process of laying their eggs, cause some damage to young trees, otherwise they’re totally harmless.” 

But he said to expect it to be noisy from May to June. 

Kritsky recently published a new book detailing the Brood X cicadas called Periodical Cicadas The Brood X Edition, which is available on Amazon.