This spring, local media outlets breathlessly repeated warnings of an impending cicada invasion.
The 17-year cicadas of Brood II, which last appeared during the Clinton Administration in 1996, would emerge en masse from the ground once the soil temperature was warm enough, disturbing the peace with their collective mating calls and littering lawns with their crunchy carcasses.
Alas, in Arlington, it seems like Brood II might be a bust. While points south and west of here do indeed have near-biblical-scale cicada infestations, it appears that most of Arlington has escaped unscathed.
If Arlington is to be invaded by cicadas, it’s most likely to happen during Brood X, which hit the D.C. area in 2004 and will return in 2021.
Have you seen cicadas in your Arlington neighborhood this year?
Flickr pool photo by Christaki