A newly emerged adult cicada stands on entomologist Michael Raupp's face, at the university of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland U.S., May 14, 2021. "You don't have to go to Tanzania or Botswana for a safari, you can go right in your own backyard this year and go on a cicada safari. There will be birth. There will be death. There will be romance in the treetops," said Raupp. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
(Reuters) - Wooded areas up and down the U.S. East Coast are breaking into a deafening buzz. After 17 years spent alone underground, billions of red-eyed cicadas are emerging for their final act: to meet a partner, breed and die.
Upon emerging, the insects blanket the trees and ground -- with the males filling the air with buzzing and whistling to attract females. But that sound also brings tourists and scientists to study this rare event. With air temperatures and surface soils warming from climate change, scientists are also keen to learn how the creatures are responding.
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