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.

NEW YORK —

Cicadas are poised to infest some American backyards this summer. Maybe it's time they invaded your kitchen.

Swarms of the red-eyed bugs that are reemerging after 17 years below ground offer a chance for home cooks to turn the tables and make them into snacks.

Full of protein, gluten-free, low-fat and low-carb, cicadas were used as a food source by Native Americans and are still eaten by humans in many countries.

"We really have to get over our dislike of insects, which is really strong and deep-seated in most people in our culture," said David George Gordon, author of "Eat-a-Bug Cookbook" and known as the "Bug Chef."

"You could make stir fry. You can mix them into dough to make bread — make banana bread, let's say. You can batter them and deep fry them, which I think would be my favorite way," he said.

This year's group is called Brood X, and they can be seen in 15 Eastern states from Indiana to Georgia to New York. Their cacophonous mating song can drown out the noise of passing jets.

When the soil warms up enough, cicadas emerge from the ground, where they've been sucking moisture from tree roots for the past 13 or 17 years, depending on species. They shed their exoskeletons, attach themselves to branches, mate and lay eggs before dying off in about six weeks.

When eating adult cicadas, it's advised to pull the wings and legs off to reduce the crunchiness. But Gordon advises home cooks to gather the cicadas when they're nymphs before their body armor hardens and while they are still soft and chewy, like soft shell crab.

He puts them in the freezer, a humane way to kill them. Once defrosted, cicadas can become a pizza topping like sundried tomatoes, or replace shrimp in any recipe. Others have followed his lead, including a University of Maryland cookbook dedicated to the cicada.

"People can't really deal with the idea of looking at a bug and eating it. So that's why I like tempura batter or something that just conceals the features of the nymph," Gordon said. "Plus, I'll eat anything that's deep-fried. I have a recipe in my book for a deep-fried tarantula spider and they're really good."

Gordon describes the taste of cicadas as akin to asparagus. University of Maryland entomologist Mike Raupp goes further: "They have a buttery texture, a delicious, nutty flavor, probably from the tannins, from the roots of the trees on which they fed," Raupp said. "And they're going to be really good with a Merlot."

Gordon's "Eat-a-Bug Cookbook" came out in 1998 and was greeted by hostility and jokes from late-night TV hosts. "But of course, over the last 20 years, this is moving in the direction of being normalized," he said.

Gordon pointed to the rise of foodie culture and thrill-seeking eaters like chef Andrew Zimmern, but especially to a 2013 report from the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization as a turning point in interest in edible insects. The report estimated that insect-eating is practiced regularly by at least 2 billion people around the world and that dozens of species have been documented as edible, including cicadas.

It also declared that edible insects are rich in protein and good fats, high in calcium, iron and zinc, emit fewer greenhouse gases than most livestock and take very little farming space or water.

"Now people were taking what I had been saying all along more seriously," Gordon said. In America, "We're kind of the weirdos: 80% of the world's cultures eat insects, but we're in that 20% that thinks it's an abomination."

The number of mass-produced foods containing insects — from protein bars to chips and pasta sauce — has been rising. In parts of Asia, some insects are sold in bags like salted peanuts or in tubes like stacked potato chips. A German company makes burgers out of mealworms.

"They're a much healthier option for the planet," said Jenna Jadin, an evolutionary biologist and ecologist who has worked as a climate change adviser for UN agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization. "Especially in light of the fact that we will shortly have to feed 9 billion people."

Jadin notes with a laugh that once the mighty, high-cost lobster was deemed so repulsive in the West that it was fed to prisoners. "Perceptions change," she said.

She notes that the Food and Agriculture Organization estimates about 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions are due to animal agriculture.

Adventurous eaters might start with insects at the Newport Jerky Company, which has stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and a vibrant online presence. Its insect section includes a bag of grasshoppers for $9.99 or chocolate-covered crickets for $6.99.

Co-owner Derek Medico said he sells one item — a $9.99 mixed bag of dehydrated grasshoppers, mole crickets, silkworms, crickets and sago worms — thousands of times a year. "I think a lot of it just the novelty," he said.

And he doesn't expect to see consistent demand for insects anytime soon.

"In other countries and other cultures, that's much more accepted and much more normal," he said. "But here, I just think it's just going to take a while."

Cicada Pizza

Yield: 4 servings

Dough:

1 teaspoon active dried yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 1/4 cups bread flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

—

Tomato sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 pound peeled tomatoes, sliced into 3/4-inch chunks

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

—

Toppings:

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

6 marinated artichoke hearts

8 sundried tomatoes in oil

8 subadult periodical cicadas, thawed from frozen or freshly caught

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

—

Directions:

1. To make the dough, combine the yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup water. Add this liquid, the 1 tablespoon olive oil, and remaining water to the flour and cornmeal. Mix to a soft dough, then knead on a lightly floured board until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

2. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a cloth or plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

3. While waiting for the dough to rise, begin making the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and garlic, and cook until soft.

4. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from flame.

5. Punch down the risen dough and knead briefly. Place in the center of an oiled 12-inch pizza pan. Press outward, using the knuckles, until dough is evenly spread, filling the pan. Pinch a lip around the edge to contain the sauce. Brush the dough with olive oil.

6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

7. Spoon tomato sauce over the dough. Spread mozzarella cheese uniformly over the sauce.

8. Drain the sundried tomatoes, reserving the oil. Coarsely chop them and the artichoke hearts, artfully arranging the two items over the cheese.

9. Top with fresh or thawed-from-frozen periodic cicadas.

10. Sprinkle the completed pie with 1 or 2 tablespoons of the reserved oil. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and dough is crisp and golden. Dust with red pepper flakes and serve.

11. Wait 13 to 17 years and repeat this entire sequence.

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:

Rosalie Lacorazza already has lived through two 17-year cicada events and dreads what's coming.

As the periodical cicadas in Brood X begin to emerge by the billions this month across the eastern United States and Washington, D.C., area, Lacorazza said she will be taking no chances.

"I'll be back to my early pandemic ways where I didn't leave my house, didn't see anyone and ordered everything for delivery," said Lacorazza, an Arlington, Virginia, resident.

The last major emergence in 2004 left her traumatized when a cicada flew into her hair as she was walking to lunch with a friend. She jumped out into traffic from the fright.

"I've lived this way the last 12 to 13 months," Lacorazza said about returning to her self-imposed, cicada-avoidance lockdown. "What's six more weeks?"

They are coming — and soon

This spring's mass exodus still hasn't happened, but it's imminent. And reactions to it vary.

Some people find the cicadas fascinating and eagerly await their arrival and others might just bemoan them as a nuisance. There are those, however, who get anxious and worried about the flying insects.

There already are reports of isolated recent sightings and chorusing in North Carolina and Georgia, according to CicadaMania.com, a website dedicated to what it calls "the most amazing insects in the world."

Over the next few weeks, the red-eyed, winged insects that grow roughly 1.5 inches long are expected to emerge across 16 states, including New York, Kentucky, Virginia and Illinois, plus the District of Columbia, during an event that lasts about 40 days.

The males usually come out first, said James English, an animal ecologist and adjunct professor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, who did his doctoral work on periodical cicadas and has studied them for decades. Over the course of a week, the insects emerge at night, climb a tree or bush, and shed their exoskeletons, he said.

"It takes several hours for them to shed and then pump their wings full of blood and harden."

The cicadas spend the next three weeks or so singing to attract females, who lay their larvae in slits they scrape into the tender bark of tree limbs. The young hatch from the eggs after six to eight weeks . By late summer or early fall, the next generation heads underground to feed on sap from tree roots and the cycle continues.

"They won't come after you," English said. "They're not great flyers so they may bump into you on accident, but they aren't strong flyers like a bee or housefly."

For some people, however, that's little solace.

People in the cicada zone are prepping

Michelle Matlack said she is not scared of the cicadas but doesn't like bugs in her face.

The Annandale, Virginia, resident bought a $30 beekeeping suit so she can continue to spend time outdoors comfortably with neighbors during their pandemic-inspired weekly happy hour.

"It's part-gag, but part of it is maintaining this social activity that's become important to me," Matlack said about the suit.

During the 2004 cicada event, she "could have filled wheelbarrows" with the carcasses that piled up in her backyard, she said.

"I can see being out there with the neighbors and someone freaking out and me taking off the bee suit and being like, 'Here put this on,'" Matlack said.

"It might turn out to be a great investment."

Fear and anxiety are very real

There are people who genuinely fear the emergence of Brood X.

"A fear of bugs is a common phobia," said clinical psychologist Colleen Cira, founder of the Cira Center for Behavioral Health in Chicago. "There are a ton of people that fall somewhere on the spectrum in terms of feeling anxious about insects to people with full-on, diagnosable phobias."

For people just mildly dreading the cicadas' emergence, activities like deep breathing, yoga, meditation, journaling and talking to a trusted friend can help, Cira said.

"Going into nature won't work with this," she said.

For people with a genuine phobia, Brood X's arrival will present some particular challenges, said clinical psychologist Karen Cassiday, founder of The Anxiety Treatment Center of Greater Chicago.

If you've ever been held under too long in the swimming pool as a kid and feared you were going to die, she said, you can empathize with the fear some people are having right now.

"For someone who is having a phobic response, it's that painful and frightening," she said.

Empathy and exposure therapy can help

Try to understand and empathize with what someone with an insect phobia is going through. "When somebody has a phobia of bugs or insects, the thing they are dreading most is physical contact," Cassiday said.

"That's what can make it so compelling to stay indoors or cover yourself up completely. When you're having anxiety, it's out of proportion to the situation," she said, and typically the people having anxiety are aware that's true.

People who don't have an anxiety disorder and "might otherwise be kind might think it's funny to taunt people who do," Cassiday said. But that's a bad way to respond.

"The first thing, if you want to be a good supportive friend or colleague, is to understand it's not funny to the other person," she said. "It's extreme, it feels awful."

Telling people the bugs are harmless and that they help aerate the soil (both of which are true) and that the natural phenomenon is amazing to witness isn't helpful either, she said.

"Say things like, 'I wish I could help make it easier for you.' Ask if there's something you can do," she said. "Typically, the response you're going to get is 'Thank you for understanding.'"

As much as she wants everyone to get help for their phobias, Cassiday said certain phobias can be episodic. "You can live your life and be just fine with it, except when there's an unusual event."

For people with a cicada phobia who want to get a handle on it, she said exposure treatments that involve learning about the insects, getting close to them, and even touching them can help.

Cira, too, recommended exposure therapy to people with insect and other phobias.

"If it's negatively affecting your ability to function and live your life, you can get some professional help," she said. "It doesn't have to be that way."

Knowing you're not alone can be a source of support, too.

"My guess is we're going to have people who are sort of coming out of the closet with their bug phobia because this is really unusual," Cassiday said.

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TYPES OF THINGS THIS WEEK. THAT’S WE’RE GOING TO SEE A RAIN. WE’RE GOING TO SEE A CICADAS. HE WILL SEE HEAT. YES EVEN HUMIDITY, AND I WAS MAKING SURE YOU’RE GETTING THOSE CICADAS IN THERE BECAUSE I THINK THE NEXT DAY REALLY IS GOING TO BE THE WEEK WHERE WE SEE THEM EMERGE AND THEN WE JUST EVERYONE JUST LIKE WRITING YOU AND SENDING YOU EMAILS AND EVERYTHING. YEAH. OH MY GOODNESS. YES, SO I’VE HAD REPORTS OF CICADAS. I WAS JUST SAYING NOT TOO LONG AGO. WE NEED LIKE A LITTLE CICADA ICON SO THAT WE CAN P REPORTS FROM NORTH AVONDALE GALLATIN COUNTY, KENTUCKY ANDERSON TOWNSHIP IS WHERE I’VE SEEN A LOT OF THOSE REPORTS ASSOCIATED COMING AND HAVEN’T SEEN TOO MANY FROM THE WEST SIDE THOUGH. BUT OF COURSE IF YOU SEE CICADAS SEND US OUR YOUR PICTURES BECAUSE WE LOVE TO SEE IT. ALL RIGHT, SO WE HAVE A DRY SKY RIGHT NOW, BUT WE WILL START TO SEE SOME RAIN MOVING IN HERE. OUR MORNING AND THAT RAIN IS GOING TO BE AROUND FOR A LOT OF THE MORNING COMMUTE SO PLAN ON THAT POTENTIAL FOR SOGGY MORNING COMMUTE. YOU MAY WANT TO LEAVE A LITTLE EARLY IN THE MORNING COULD HAVE SOME POCKETS OF HEAVY RAINFALL EVEN POSSIBLY SOME THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL AS A FRONT SLOWLY MOVES INTO GREATER CINCINNATI OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND EVEN 48 TOO. SO FOR TOMORROW RAIN CHANCES HIGHEST IN THE MORNING AGAIN, THIS IS WHEN WE SEE SOME OF THE MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN AND THEN AS WE GET INTO THE AFTERNOON THE START TO BECOME A LITTLE BIT LESS IN COVERAGE. WE WON’T SEE AS MANY MORE SCATTERED AND THEN EVEN SOME STRAY SHOWERS POSSIBLE FROM THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING AND THEN RAIN CHANCES START TO GO UP JUST A LITTLE BIT MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING, AND WE’LL SEE RAIN SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE DAY TUESDAY AS WELL. SO THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF THIS WORK WEEK WILL BE THE RAINIEST OR THE SOGGY IS TWO DAYS OF THE WORK WEEK AND THEN WE START TO SEE THINGS DRYING OUT AND THEN THAT’S WHEN WE START TO GET WARMER AND THEN EVEN HUMID AT TIMES ESPECIALLY DURING SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK. SO FOR THE REST OF TONIGHT MOSTLY DRY UP UNTIL ABOUT FIVE OR SIX O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING TOMORROW. THESE SHOWERS ARE GOING TO BE MOVING IN FROM THE WEST AND THEN BUILDING EAST THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE MORNING. SO EIGHT O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND YOU SEE HOW WIDESPREAD THIS RAIN IS AND AGAIN SOME POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN WILL BE A POSSIBILITY EARLY ON AND THERE IS THAT POTENTIAL THAT WE HEAR SOME THUNDER TOO TOMORROW, ESPECIALLY IN THE MORNING. MIDDAY THE SHOWERS START TO BREAK UP A LITTLE BIT NOT AS WIDESPREAD A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA AND THEN SOME SPOTTY RAIN THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND TOMORROW EVENING. SO 6:30 RIGHT BEFORE FIRST PITCH FOR THE REDS GAME. I THINK THERE IS STILL A POTENTIAL. WE HAVE A SHOWER AROUND AT SOME POINT DURING THE 9 INNINGS, BUT I’M THINKING MOST OF THE GAMES SHOULD BE OKAY AND IT IS GOING TO BE A LITTLE BIT MILD TOO TEMPERATURES TOMORROW, DESPITE THE RAIN AND DESPITE THE CLOUD COVER STILL MAKE IT INTO THE LOWER 70S AND THEN LOW 70S AGAIN ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON TONIGHT STILL SITTING AT 61 IN CINCINNATI 62 IN FLORENCE 59 AND 158 IN MOUNT ORAB AND TEMPERATURES WILL START DROPPING DOWN INTO THE MID-50S FOR MOST OF US FOR THE OVERNIGHT. SO WE START THINGS OFF MILD TOMORROW MORNING AND THEN UP TO 68 BY FIRST PITCH. I THINK MOST OF US STILL TOP OUT AROUND 70 IN THE AFTERNOON, BUT BY 6:40 68 70 FOR FIRST PITCH ON TUESDAY SCATTERED RAIN AND POSSIBILITY FOR BOTH OF THE GAMES MONDAY AND TUESDAY AND THEN BY WEDNESDAY’S GAME I THINK THE FORECAST STARTS TO DRY OUT A LITTLE BIT. THERE’S STILL POTENTIAL FOR AN ISOLATED SHOWER, B OVERALL RELATIVELY DRY ON WEDNESDAY 80 FOR THAT HIGH ON WEDNESDAY AND THEN INTO THE 80S ON THURSDAY AS WELL, ALTHOUGH FOR FIRST PITCH AT 12:35 78 AND THEN CLIMBING INTO THE 80S BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. SO FOR TOMORROW RAIN CHANCES HIGHEST IN THE MORNING 59 FIRST THING AND THEN UP TO ABOUT 69 70 DEGREES FOR THAT HIGH TEMPERATURE AND TONIGHT WE’LL DROP DOWN TO ABOUT 56 THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF THE WEEK. WE’LL BOTH BE WEATHER IMPACT DAYS AND THEN WARMING UP INTO THE MID 80S EVEN ABOUT 10 DEGREES. ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR HUMID DURING THE AFTERNOONS. JUST WHAT THOSE CICADAS LIKE AND STAYING WARM TOO A

Rainy then summer's heat arrives

Rain is likely to start the week and then summer returns by the end of the week!

Updated: 11:34 PM EDT May 16, 2021

Rain is likely to start the week and then summer returns by the end of the week!

Rain is likely to start the week and then summer returns by the end of the week!