The Brood X cicadas aren’t flying around anymore, but take a closer look and there are still signs of their emergence lingering.

Before they died, female cicadas laid their eggs within tree branches. This is a process called tree-flagging, where the eggs in the branches turn clusters of leaves brown. With all the rain in the Tri-State this summer, branches with these clusters may break more easily, as well.

Jennifer Ketchmark, WCPO

Dr. Gene Kritsky, dean of behavioral and natural science at Mount St. Joseph University, said there is a silver lining to this eyesore.

"Whenever you go in and prune those excess branches, the tree responds by actually producing more lush growth the following year,” Kritsky said. “While the trees look a little ugly this year, they should look spectacular next year."

Kritsky said he’s seen a lot of this tree-flagging on the west side in Delhi, Westwood and Finneytown, and on the east side in Indian Hill. Tree-flagging is most prevalent in oak trees and doesn’t hurt them in the long run; it's actually a natural pruning process, he said.

One more tip from Dr. Kritsky: Don’t sit under an oak tree that has evidence of these brown clusters. The oak itch mite feeds on cicada eggs and can bite.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Birds chirping, flowers budding and warming weather--all herald the arrival of spring.

Then, there are cicadas.

“These guys, they essentially have Capri Sun straws as mouthparts,” described Trisha Nichols, with the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion, a place full of all kinds of insects and other cool, creepy crawlers.

This spring, the insect world is going to get a little more crowded, thanks to one group of cicadas.

“They do not have the ability to bite humans, because they don't have the ability to bite,” Nichols said.

So, what’s going on?

Every 17 years, a group of cicadas known as Brood X emerges from underground looking for a little love. Around late April and the beginning of May, when the ground temperature reaches around 68 degrees, there is going to be a lot of them.

The cicadas will emerge, potentially by the billions, across 15 states: Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. That means tens of millions of Americans will likely encounter them.

Cicadas aren’t harmful to humans, plants or pets. Birds enjoy eating them and so do some people.

However, the mating calls of cicadas are loud, in excess of 100 decibels, like a car stereo at maximum volume.

“Cicadas actually have what's called the tympanum,” Nichols said. “So, if you imagine they almost have a drum, but it doesn't have drumsticks at all. It just pops back and forth and it pops in a way that it makes that chirping noise and they can vibrate it very, very quickly.”

Just as quickly as they emerge, though, they’ll start to fade out. Within four to six weeks, the cicada show will be over. The babies of Brood X will head underground for another 17 years.

“They dig down underneath the ground and they spend 17 years drinking from tree roots,” Nichols said. “It takes 17 years for them to get enough nutrients and to gain enough energy to become an adult.”

And, like other 17-year-olds, they’ll be ready to party once they do.

CINCINNATI — Many of the Brood X cicadas across Cincinnati are dead, but before they go, they are giving the Tri-State one last gift.

Cicada carcasses are full of nutrients that are beneficial to plants, especially trees. Their bodies act as a natural fertilizer and will help nourish vegetation across the Tri-State. The plants won't bloom more or look greener, but they will be properly nourished.

"All those nutrients in the millions of cicadas that we saw will go into the soil," said Dr. Gene Kritsky, the dean of behavioral and natural sciences at Mount St. Joseph University. "Especially for those trees where they’ve clustered at the base of a tree and you just see mounds of these things."

However, cicada carcasses don't decompose easily, so they will stick around for a while, and they can smell.

Kritsky has a solution for that, though.

"If you don’t like the looks of them," he said, "one thing you can do is literally rake them away from the tree -- not far away -- and then when you mow, provided you have a mulching mower, that will hasten the decline and the smell right away.”

Kritsky said the cicada life-cycle has already started over.

Female cicadas laid their eggs in tree branches, and soon some leaves will turn brown and fall from trees. Then, cicada nymphs will hatch and fall into the soil, looking like dust falling from a tree.

Investigative reporter Paula Christian joins the Hear Cincinnati podcast to explain why Armed U.S. Marshals we called to Tom Brown's farmland property with a search-and-seizure warrant for trees due to a destructive beetle.

But first, host Brian Niesz is joined by senior manager of enterprise/investigative Meghan Goth and dayside content manager Allison Hunter to discuss the latest cicada headlines, a job fair helping people with criminal records, an act of kindness at an arcade, and more.

Listen to this episode in the podcast player above.

Notable Links:

Featured:

Subscribe to Hear Cincinnati

If cicadas are a point of anxiety or fear for you, click out of this story now. That's because this story is about "zombie cicadas."

The Tri-State is at the height of the once-every-17-years Brood X cicada invasion, but this time around, there's a relatively new phenomenon taking hold of the bugs: a fungus that alters their behavior and eventually causes their bodies to fall apart.

Some have dubbed them "zombie cicadas," as reported by CNN last year, describing the disembodied behavior the insects exhibit under the influence of the psychedelic fungus.

Every one of the billions of cicadas that have emerged this year are susceptible to Massospora, which produces an amphetamine compound that has and will continue to affect a small number of the insects this summer. The infection causes cicadas to lose control of their already heightened sex drive and eventually cause their bodies to erupt and ooze a white substance.

"The periodical cicadas get a fungal disease," said Dr. Gene Kritsky of Mount St. Joseph University, the nation's premiere cicada expert. "It's a rather shocking thing that happens. It makes them extremely amorous."

The final result, though: "The trouble is when the fungus matures, it causes this whole tip of his abdomen to fall off so the genitalia are gone."

But not before they can "mate like crazy," according to Matt Kasson, an associate professor of forest pathology and mycology at West Virginia University, who spoke with NPR last month.

Kasson, who has studied the fungus for the last five years, said the infection occurs before the cicadas emerge and is considered a sexually transmitted disease.

Kritsky said up to a quarter of Brood X cicadas will succumb to the fungus this summer.

The fungus can also result in some gender-bending, he said.

"What's really crazy, though, is that if he hears a male calling, the fungal infected cicada pretends he's a female to lure that male in to mate with him."

When Vincent Bingham of New Richmond was driving home from work Monday afternoon, he didn't expect the drive would gain him national attention.

"I was driving home from work on Riverside Drive to New Richmond," he told WCPO. "I didn't have AC. I was going to get it fixed (Thursday), and a cicada just flew in the window and hit me in the face."

The close encounter of the winged kind resulted in Bingham swerving and crashing into a telephone pole, totaling his vehicle and thrusting him into the spotlight.

"I just reacted, you know, like in a split second," he said. "I thought it could happen to someone who's, like, scared of them, or something, if it came in their car. I didn't think it would happen to me, that I would wreck because something was coming at my face."

On top of the crash earning local media attention, Bingham was also contacted by "Inside Edition" for a Wednesday segment on the cicadas' disruption to everyday life.

Although his vehicle is totaled, Bingham walked away from the crash with only minor injuries and said he was feeling better Thursday. He said he's more worried about how he's going to get to work: His insurance company will help cover the remaining costs on his lease, but he only will have a rental car until Saturday.

Bingham set up a GoFundMe to help cover the expenses of a new car.

Cincinnati police and fire personnel responded to the crash on U.S. 50/52 Monday afternoon. Police body camera footage captured the aftermath of the crash.

Cicada Crash Body Camera footage from Cincinnati Police Department on Vimeo.

Bingham remained in positive spirits about the incident, despite not knowing how he'll get to work come Sunday.

But he had some advice for other drivers as the Brood X summer continues: "Keep your window up. If you don't have AC, maybe only crack your windows, or get your AC fixed. And if it happens to you, try not to react like I did, I guess."

HAMILTON, Ohio — A 9-year-old has gone viral for her Leibovitz-level portraits of a dead cicada depicted in various everyday and not-so-everyday settings.

Millie Staudt arranged impressive scenes for the cicada carcass using Legos and other small model toys.

"Recently discovered that my kid (age 9) has been staging mini photo shoots with deceased cicadas from our yard, and I thought y’all would appreciate her artistic expression," Millie's mom, Miranda Staudt, wrote in a June 4 Facebook post.

By Friday afternoon, that post had been shared more than 32,000 times.

"You’re welcome," Miranda Staudt jokingly wrote in the post.

The 9-year-old gives the lifeless cicada the Weekend at Bernie's treatment in a recreation of an ice cream shop, a tea party, working from home and more in more than 20 photos:

Video above: Time lapse of Brood X cicada emerging

It's a flight delay 17 years in the making.

The White House press charter plane scheduled to leave Washington on Tuesday evening ahead of Joe Biden's first trip abroad as president was delayed by cicadas, the noisy insects that have emerged after their nearly two decades of slumber.

The chartered plane was scheduled to depart around 9 p.m., but a new plane had to be dispatched to Dulles International Airport after airline officials informed White House travel aides that cicadas had invaded exterior sections of the plane late Tuesday afternoon.

The flight left early Wednesday morning, more than six and a half hours behind schedule.

Biden departed for England on Wednesday morning aboard Air Force One — an aircraft that presumably has better protection from the East Coast cicada invasion.

The loud, cacophonous bugs first emerged from the ground in May on the East Coast as part of Brood X, which comes out every 17 years, according to the National Park Service.

To some, the brood's emergence is an awe-inspiring experience, worthy of glossy cicada photo shoots and endless media profiles. To others, cicadas can be a creepy, inescapable nuisance.

This round of cicadas will be dying off in late June and early July, so we can look forward to the next time they come, in 2038.

From cicada tattoos to sculptures and now chocolate, a candy company is finding success with the Brood X cicada invasion.While tons of cicadas are buzzing around outside, inside Chouquette Chocolates in Maryland the insects are being air-fried and dipped in chocolate."Trust me, this chocolate will not get used for anything but cicadas," said Sarah Dwyer, owner of Chouquette Chocolates.Dwyer said there's a lot of interest from customers for her cicada confections."It's really like a chocolate-covered potato chip. It's really crunchy because we air-fry them. So, we clean them first, then air-fry them and then dip them in chocolate and you sprinkle whatever spice you want on top," Dwyer said.If real cicada chocolates aren't your thing, Dwyer has other sweet options to tantalize your tongue and still commemorate the 17-year event. She sells chocolates with creative cicada quotes, buttons and a cicada chocolate mold filled with marshmallow cream, corn flakes and candy.Dwyer opened Chouquette Chocolates about 10 years ago, and coming up with creative confections like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Ruth Bader Ginsberg chocolates is what gets the sales."I just think 2021 is a year like no other. Last year, our best-seller was Dr. Fauci chocolates, and this year, it's cicadas," Dwyer said.But if you want the chocolate-covered cicadas, you'll have to special order them online."I just thought the whole idea of having cicadas around every 17 years, it's fascinating," she said.

With Monday's rainy weather followed by warmer temperatures throughout the rest of the week, the 2021 cicada Brood X's arrival is imminent.

Some areas of the Tri-State are already seeing cicadas emerging and molting, while other parts of the region are still waiting for the shoe to drop.

FULL COVERAGE: Brood X cicadas arrive in the Tri-State

Here some frequently asked questions about the oncoming swarm about to sweep the Midwest:

1. When will they arrive?

Depending on where you live, they may already be crawling up from the ground.

WCPO already has begun receiving photos from viewers finding cicadas beginning to buzz around their neighborhoods.

GALLERY: Submit your cicada photos here

Michael George, a senior naturalist with the Cincinnati Parks Board, said Monday's soggy weather might be just the push the emerging insects need to crawl their way to the surface.

For most of the region, George said Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is when the cicadas will start emerging en masse.

"Definitely by Thursday evening," he said.

2. How long will they stick around?

Cicadas will emerge in phases throughout the summer, but, once above ground, they only live for a matter of weeks.

According to the Cincinnati Zoo, all cicadas should have emerged and gone through their full, above-ground lifecycle by Labor Day.

3. Where do cicadas tend emerge?

According to the Washington Post, Brood X may show up in parts of 15 states, ranging from Pennsylvania to northern Georgia and as far west as eastern Illinois.

Once above ground, cicadas will seek out trees in order to use their bark and sap to lay eggs.

4. Do cicadas pose any risk?

Despite their volume, generally, cicadas are harmless to animals and humans.

Due to their reproductive process, though, they could pose a risk to some trees in the yard or nearby park or forest.

"In areas of high concentrations of cicadas, they can cause cosmetic damage to trees when they lay their eggs on young tree branches," according to the Cincinnati Zoo's website.

RELATED: Cicadas volume could pose challenges for people with sensory issues

5. How can I protect my yard or trees?

Local nursery owner Mike Benken's first tip is to skip the bug spray: It will harm you -- and potentially your pets, who might be tempted to eat the bugs -- more than the cicadas.

And forget about spreading grub killer, which some homeowners have done in recent weeks.

READ MORE: Cicada-stopping products that do and don't work

For WCPO's full coverage of Brood X's 2021 emergence, click or tap here.

Cicadas from the much-anticipated Brood X appear to have emerged in the Tri-State this weekend.

Late Friday night, WCPO viewer Matthew Servizzi spotted cicadas climbing on trees and on walls in Sharonville.

Courtesy of Matthew Servizzi

In photos and video taken by WCPO viewer Jill Soete, cicada larvae were spotted coming out of the ground at a community yard sale in Fort Mitchell Saturday morning.

Cicadas emerge in Northern Kentucky

Viewer Lindsey Holm snapped photos of a more mature-looking cicada at her home in Wyoming, Ohio.

Courtesy of Lindsey Ovadia Holm

Viewer K. Swanson saw a cicada emerging from its skin on a tree in Alexandria, Kentucky.

Courtesy of K. Swanson

Billions of Brood X cicadas are expected to emerge from their 17-year slumber across the eastern and midwestern U.S. this summer.

Have you seen cicadas begin to emerge in your neighborhood? Send us your photos and video on Facebook and Twitter, or email us at newsdesk@wcpo.com.

MORE BROOD X COVERAGE:

Some are already starting to see signs of the Brood X cicadas emerging, and if you've seen bags on trees in your neighborhood, it's for a good reason. Carrie Engle at Valley View Farms in Cockeysville, Maryland, said there is value in putting a net over young trees ahead of the cicada swarm of 2021. Engle said cicadas can be devastating to young trees."The female cicadas, after they get together with the males, are going to slit the ends of the branches and lay their eggs in that slit, so, maybe 6 inches to a foot back, and then eventually that will break away from the main branch," she said.Mature trees aren't so much at risk. Their branches are thicker and stronger. Plus, it's difficult to climb that high to cover branches with netting. But the young tree branches are too weak for the netting to hang on and can break. Engle said you'll notice some bowing later this summer. If you're going to get a net to cover your tree, make sure the holes are no larger than three-eighths of an inch because cicadas can get through them."The cicadas are coming. A lot of people are excited about it and some are dreading it. But it's kind of a cool phenomenon when you think about it. It only happens every 17 years," Engle said.If your trees do take a beating, don't worry. Engle said it's a natural pruning that will eventually fix itself.