MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Cicadas made their return to the mid-state this year, and they're usually gone by now, but in Rutherford County one wave of a particularly strong species was hanging around a little longer than expected.
Experts said this year was part of a 13-year cycle of cicadas called periodical cicadas. While they may be more prevalent in places like west Tennessee, there have now been some reports of them here in middle Tennessee.
Cicadas have typically been at their strongest in May or June each year, but some people in Rutherford County said they're still seeing some of them around.
Experts said the number of cicadas we see each year depends on the different species of the insect, and how many years it takes the larva to hatch.
Even with this year’s cycle, it has been nothing like the outbreak in 2011 when the noisy cicadas wreaked havoc across the mid-state.
Nonetheless, experts said cicadas can still be a nuisance, and there's not really a way to get rid of them, until they die on their own in a matter of weeks.
“It's the noisiest and most annoying for people, especially when you have the large populations that come out every seven years or 13 years in the bigger groupings,” said Dan Cassidy with The Bug Man pest control in Murfreesboro.
While the cicadas can be annoying, they are harmless to humans, but it's a different story for pets, who can get sick if they eat too many of the dead insects.
