Millions of cicadas that have been underground are expected to invade parts of the East Coast.

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Periodical cicada Brood IX will emerge in the spring of 2020 in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia after spending 17 years underground. The last time this type of cicada emerged was in 2003, according to Cicada Mania.

As many as 1.5 million cicadas could emerge per acre, according to researchers at Virginia Tech.

“Communities and farms with large numbers of cicadas emerging at once may have a substantial noise issue,” Eric Day, Virginia Cooperative Extension entomologist in Virginia Tech’s Department of Entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences said. “Hopefully, any annoyance at the disturbance is tempered by just how infrequent and amazing this event is.”

Cicada Mania reports cicadas spend about 17 years underground to avoid other predators. So many emerge together to "overwhelm predators" so enough can breed and the species will live on.

Last, another batch of 17-year-old cicada's, called Brood V, invaded parts of New York State while Brood VII infected Onondaga County in New York in 2018. Brood II cicadas appeared in the Hudson Valley region in 2013.

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