Hordes of cicadas are emerging simultaneously in America

All across the eastern states of America, it is cicada season. These small winged insects roughly the size of a paperclip emerge at regular intervals in vast hordes known as broods, many millions or billions of individuals strong. They spend a few frantic weeks breeding before the females lay eggs in slits carved into tree branches. When these hatch, around six weeks later, the juveniles head underground to find a root into which they can plunge their feeding tubes. Many years later, the cycle repeats.