An adult periodical cicada crawls along a fence in Mayumi Barrack's backyard in Forest Park, Ill., Thursday, June 6, 2024. Barrack has taken more than 4,600 photos of cicadas in her backyard. – Mayumi Barrack sees a pair of mating periodical cicadas getting together, whips out her phone, says, “Hi guys!" and takes their picture.
Gene Kritsky, a professor of biology at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, has been working toward this year's massive cicada emergence for decades. He first heard about cicadas in 1972 and has been studying and chasing them since 1974. He wrote the book on the current emergence, “A Tale of Two Broods.” He also created the cicada tracking app that enthusiasts like Barrack use to post pictures and find where the bugs are in large numbers.
. He cited the May 24 emergence as “incredible” with thousands coming out that night at his location.For New York City chef Joseph Yoon, cicadas aren't just amazing, they're dinner. His Brooklyn Bugs company is on a mission to spread the word about the taste and sustainability of edible insects, though he knows many people are grossed out by the thought.
But he added: “At the same I also can acknowledge and appreciate that each one of these cicadas' lives represents a potential to transform somebody's perception or opinion about eating insects.”