'Bourbon brood' cicadas start emerging in Kentucky after 17-year slumber [View all]

Billions of the winged insects are set to emerge from underground starting this month for a weekslong, frenzied and famously noisy mating ritual.

Kentucky is known as the land of horses, bourbon and bluegrass — and soon, it will be home to a whole lot of cicadas.

Billions of the winged insects are set to emerge from underground starting this month for a weekslong, frenzied and famously noisy mating ritual.

This year, cicadas are expected to pop out of the ground in nearly a dozen states, but the emergence will mostly be centered in Kentucky and Tennessee. The insects will also appear in Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and small portions of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York.

Read more at: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/bourbon-brood-cicadas-start-emerging-kentucky-17-year-slumber-rcna208078