From Garfield Park to Lake View, from Oak Park to Belmont-Cragin, cicadas are singing their summer chorus across the Chicago area.Cicadas make a racket every summer. But is the cacophony of buzzing, whirring and droning louder this year?It’s “inconclusive” whether they’re louder, said Spence r Campbell, the Morton Arboretum's senior manager of natural areas. Anecdotally, Campbell said, cicadas seem louder this year, which could have something to do with a very hot summer in the Chicago area. But some studies have shown that cicadas are actually less active in warm weather, he noted.People may be more attuned to the insects because in 2024, Illinois was the epicenter of a once-in-a-lifetime convergence of cicadas that emerge every 13 and 17 years.There may also be more of them than usual. Nina Salem, founder of the Insect Asylum in Avondale, has noticed more cicadas compared with last year.Two weeks ago in Palmer Square, cicada nymphs were crawling out of the ground and climbing onto Salem like a tree. “I can’t remember the last time in the city that cicadas were emerging underneath me and crawling up,” she said.“We definitely have more luck in finding them than before,” said Salem, who opened the Insect Asylum’s museum in 2022. “We’ve had a really cool cicada season.”Cicadas do seem louder this year, observed Salem, though she noted that’s based on her personal experience, not science.She wondered if more-forested areas like Thatcher Woods, LaBagh Woods and Skokie Lagoons are seeing — and hearing — more cicadas.Why do cicadas buzz so loudly?Males are sounding off ardent mating calls to attract females. They can climb high into trees “trying to yell louder than their neighbor,” said Campbell. Cicada choruses can exceed nine decibels — a noise level similar to that of lawnmowers, motorcycles and tractors. “Areas with more mature trees could have a louder chorus,” he said.What kind of cicadas are these?The trademark end-of-summer buzzing is coming from “dog-day” cicadas. They are annual cicadas, which is a misnomer since they can emerge every year or every two to five years, said Campbell. They come out only for a few weeks in the summer to mate before dying off. Their peak time is now. “A month from now this will be a distant memory,” he said.Annual cicadas usually sing at dusk. Periodical cicadas that emerge every few years or more are loudest in the late morning and early afternoon.Are these cicadas part of the 2024 convergence?No. In 2024, for the first time in more than 200 years, two types of periodical cicadas came above ground at the same time. One brood, or breeding group, emerges every 13 years, and the other comes every 17 years.In 1803, the last time that natural phenomenon took place, “electricity hadn’t been invented, horses and carriages were still the main way to get around, and the Great Chicago Fire hadn’t yet ravaged the city,” wrote Sun-Times reporter Mary Norkol in 2024. Norkol has written extensively about cicadas. A periodical cicada flies away from Stephanie Adams, plant healthcare leader at the Morton Arboretum, Friday, May 17, 2024. The periodical cicadas have emerged in the Chicago area for the first time in 17 years.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Scientists and researchers, like Kacie Athey of the University of Illinois, encouraged people to appreciate that rare occurrence.“We talk about this as being a once-in-a-lifetime thing where two are coming out at once, it’s more than that. … The next time we can expect to see two broods to come up is 2245,” Athey said then.When the cicadas emerged from their years feeding underground, one brood that emerges every 17 years was centered in northern Illinois, while the 13-year brood was found in the southern part of the state.Although the 2024 event captured headlines, this year’s annual emergence is “exciting,” said Salem of the Insect Asylum. She noted that the general public doesn’t celebrate more common events as much.How are people coping with cicada noise?Even if this year’s cicada ruckus is at normal levels, some people on social media describe their droning as “deafening.”At Keshet, a private therapeutic day school in Northbrook, students with disabilities and sensory sensitivities again prepared for cicada noise and changes in their environment.“Many of Keshet’s programs are located in Chicago’s northern suburbs, and the cicadas have been really, really loud this summer,” Jennifer Phillips, president and CEO of Keshet, said in an email. “Our staff continue to be aware of how the noise can affect individuals differently and provide support and accommodations as needed.”Students, ranging in age from 12 to 15, go over coping mechanisms if the cicada noise becomes overwhelming, such as going inside to take breaks from the noise, putting on headphones or chewing on a toy to help distract themselves. ...read more read less