Brood X Cicadas Emerge After 17 Years Underground

TAKOMA PARK, MD - MAY 18: TJ Mathews uses a head lamp to fill a plastic bag with periodical cicadas from his and his neighbors' yards on May 17, 2021 in Takoma Park, Maryland. Mathews has collected hundreds of the insects -- members of the Magicicadas periodical cicada Brood X -- which he will roast, grind and turn into a protein-rich powder he mixes into smoothies. Billions of the cicadas are beginning to emerge in the eastern United States and some Midwestern states after living underground and feeding off of tree roots for 17 years. (Footage by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)