Carolinas largely left out of the cicada experience for 2021
MORGANTON, N.C. (WBTV) – When cicadas emerged from the ground in Morganton 17 years ago, 2021 was marked as the time when they would return from the depths.
They didn’t.
Agriculture officials say most of North Carolina is cicada-free this year even though neighbors to the north in Virginia and to the west in Tennessee have experienced some major pockets of the bugs.
“Mother nature doesn’t always include us in her plans,” said Agriculture Agent Donna Teasley.
Cicadas are only around for a month or so.
They climb trees and drill into tiny limbs at the end of branches to leave eggs. Those branches fall to the ground and larvae emerge and dig into the ground and live there for 17 years before the cycle begins again.
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