Cicada safari: Mapping the 2021 emergence of the brood X periodical cicadas

Periodical cicadas belonging to Brood X will emerge over a large portion of the eastern United States in the spring of 2021. This upcoming emergence will be mapped with the aid of a smartphone app, Cicada Safari. Cicada Safari encourages users to seek out periodical cicadas in their area and submit photographs and videos with metadata including the date and GPS location. After submissions are verified, the locations are uploaded to a map enabling app users to monitor the emergence in real time. Cicada Safari was first tested in 2019 to map Brood VIII, resulting in 5,721 verified reports of periodical cicadas in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia. Cicada Safari was tested again in 2020 to map the emergence of Brood IX, with unexpected results. In addition to Brood IX cicadas, the thousands of submissions documented four-year-early Brood XIX cicadas, four-year-early Brood XIII cicadas, one-year-early Brood X cicadas, and four-year-late Brood V cicadas. This is the first documentation of five periodical cicada broods emerging in a single year. Cicada Safari will be deployed again in 2021, and entomologists are asked to encourage people to use the app to map Brood X, the largest of the 17-year cicada broods.