Cicadas: The buzz about their return

<p dir="ltr">Even though 17 years have zipped by since their last visit, no one is putting out welcome mats for the <strong><a href= "https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Periodical-Cicadas">periodical cicadas</a></strong> that are about to take Indiana by swarm. The Hoosier state is considered one of the country's major hot spots for the 17-year emergence of the type of cicadas known as <strong><a href= "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/19/brood-x-cicadas-eastern-us-emerge">Brood X</a></strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The bugs will show up pretty much anywhere there are mature trees, and the males will unleash loud mating calls that will fill the late spring with buzzing music," the <strong>Evansville Courier-Journal</strong> reported in <strong><a href= "https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/2021/04/01/brood-x-cicadas-returning-to-indiana-as-end-of-their-17-year-life-cycle/4828593001/">a heads-up article about the insects</a></strong> that are typically considered pests, to say the least. According to the Courier-Journal, early pioneers of European heritage, alarmed by the swarms, incorrectly assumed that cicadas were like locusts and would ravage their crops, giving cicadas their "first jolt of bad publicity."</p> <p dir="ltr">So who can separate fact from myth about these critters?</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Hoosier History Live</strong> is summoning a top national insect expert who happens to be based in our own backyard.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong><a href= "https://ag.purdue.edu/entm/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=turpinf"><img src="http://hoosierhistorylive.org/images/Tom-Turpin-2015.png" alt="" width="186" height="231" align="left" />Dr. Tom Turpin</a></strong>, the <strong><a href= "https://www.purdue.edu/">Purdue University</a></strong> professor emeritus of entomology who created the annual <strong><a href= "https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/bugbowl/">Bug Bowl</a></strong> competition (touted as "the world's largest insect-themed event") on the <strong>West Lafayette