Many are wondering when Illinois’ massive cicada invasion, which brought trillions of cicadas from two broods in a historic moment to the surface, will come to an end — but there’s something else, something stinky, the area will need to get through first.
The cicada-palooza has brought insect numbers unlike what many have seen before to Illinois and parts of the U.S.
“What you saw was biblical,” said biologist Gene Kritsky, who has been chasing periodical cicadas for 50 years, yet was still amazed by the 3 to 5 million cicadas crowding a small patch of Ryerson Conservation Area north of Chicago. “There are things I’ve seen this time that I’ve never seen before.”
It’s an only-in-the-United States spectacle, the last of the triple crown of rare forecasted natural wonders.
