The 'Great Southern Brood' of cicadas has emerged

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

They're here. Brood XIX, also called the great southern brood of cicadas - they have re-emerged after 13 years. And Sofi Gratas from Georgia Public Broadcasting spoke with people right in the middle of it in Macon, Ga.

(SOUNDBITE OF CICADAS CALLING)

MAUREEN VANDERVILLE: It starts out in the morning, and you're not sure if you hear it. And then it just gets worse and worse and worse.

SOFI GRATAS, BYLINE: Maureen and Jean Vanderville (ph) in Macon can't escape the Brood XIX cicada emergence.

M VANDERVILLE: It really does sound like an alien mothership.

JEAN VANDERVILLE: But even inside the house, we can hear them.

M VANDERVILLE: With the doors closed.

J VANDERVILLE: Door closed and everything - you hear them.

GRATAS: Brood XIX is the largest reported group of periodical cicadas. Trillions of them have taken over the trees here and in other parts of the southeast.

M VANDERVILLE: I think if it were to last all summer, I'd be annoyed.

J VANDERVILLE: Yeah.

M VANDERVILLE: But since I know this is an event that happens periodically and is going to disappear so I can enjoy most of my summer, I'm OK with it.

J VANDERVILLE: Yeah.

M VANDERVILLE: It's fascinating.

GRATAS: This group emerges every 13 years. Periodical cicadas are different from annual ones. They have red eyes instead of black and smaller, more slender bodies. Plus, they make a far different sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF CICADA SINGING)

GRATAS: Only the male cicadas sing to attract the females for mating, like this one that landed on my microphone during this recording.

(SOUNDBITE OF CICADA SINGING)

GRATAS: When they all sing together, they can be louder than a lawn mower or traffic. Lisa Hargrove from Macon has lived through several cicada seasons.

LISA HARGROVE: When I was a little girl, my father was a paint contractor, but he would collect the exoskeletons of the cicadas off of the trees, line them up, and he would paint them all gold. And on Sunday morning, I would wear them to church like jewelry, and the old women would clutch their pearls when I came in with cicada shells all over me.

(SOUNDBITE OF CICADAS SINGING)

HARGROVE: It just makes me think of him. And especially with this brood that's out now, I wish he were here to hear this. He would love it.

GRATAS: Brood XIX will only be out for a few more weeks, paving the way for the annual summer cicadas to take over soon.

For NPR News, I'm Sofi Gratas in Macon, Ga. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.