Why 2024's cicada bonanza is so rare

Periodical cicadas have a very strange lifecycle. They spend 13 or 17 years underground (depending on the brood), and then suddenly emerge in their billions over the course of a few weeks. But this ultra rare dual emergence of two different broods has not happened for 221 years - and won't happen again for another 221 years.

Cicada expert Dr Gene Kritsky explains all about it.

Produced by Tom Heyden and Natalia Guerrero

2 May 2024

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