A Brood XIV periodical cicada during the last emergence in 2008, in Robeson Township, Pennsylvania. | Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Oh, to be a cicada.

For the last 17 years, a group of cicadas known as Brood XIV has been buried several inches underground, doing very little. This particular batch of insects has missed a global pandemic, Donald Trump winning two presidential elections, Brexit, multiple wars, and more.

Now they’re about to emerge.

By the billions.

Across large portions of the eastern US, from Long Island to central Tennessee.

Around May........

© Vox