Entomophobes beware: You might want to stay away from the U.S. East Coast in May, where a once-every-17-years cicada hatch is expected to result in the appearance of billions of the buzzing bugs.
The largest family of cicadas -- known as magicicadas -- spend most of their life burrowed underground as nymphs, feeding on roots until their 17th year.
When soil temperatures hit 18 C, they emerge from underground, shed their shells, transform into a flying creature and begin searching for a mate. And billions of them will be doing it at the same time when the so-called "Brood II" hatch gets underway.
"This spring, patches of the East Coast will turn squishy and crunchy -- the return of the 17-year cicadas means spots from Georgia to Connecticut will be carpeted in bugs. And the air will hum with a 7-kHz mating buzz," says the website Cicada Tracker, which uses volunteers to track the insects' emergence.
Below: Hear what a cicada sounds like
The invasion is not expected to stretch into Canada.
Cicada Tracker is compiling soil temperature readings from volunteers across the region in hopes of predicting when the so-called "Swarmageddon" will begin. It is expected to occur when soil temperatures 16 centimetres below the surface hit a steady 18 C -- the signal cicadas need to begin their exodus from underground.
Temperatures in some areas have already hit the magic temperature, and some observers have already recorded sightings of the bugs, according to magicicicada.org, another site that tracks the insects.
Sightings of nymphs, shed nymph skins and adults have so far been recorded in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and several other states stretching up to Connecticut.
Adult cicadas are black, and roughly the size of a shrimp. They have transparent wings and beady red eyes.
Though cicadas do not sting or bite, and have no defensive mechanisms, they do make a loud defensive buzzing noise when startled.
And in order to attract a mate, male cicadas make a loud clicking noise achieved by flexing their tymbals -- a drum like organ located in their abdomen. Female cicadas also make a sound by flicking their wings, though it is less striking than the male's mating song.
"Adult cicadas, also called imagoes, spend their time in trees looking for a mate. Males sing, females respond, mating begins, and the cycle of life begins again," states the Cicada Mania website.
Unlike locusts, cicadas typically feed on twigs or grass as opposed to wiping out entire fields of crops. Cicadas can damage trees and shrubs however, by laying eggs in trees which can kill small branches and cause leaves to turn brown, a process known as flagging.
Other than the noise they make, which can hit 90 decibels, and the obviously frightening sight of a sky blackened with the insects, cicadas are relatively harmless. In fact, they are known to aerate soil and provide a plentiful food source to birds and other creatures.
The Brood II hatch last occurred in 1996.
