According to Cincinnati.com, on the week of May 19, 2008, Southwest Ohio can expect about 5 billion cicadas to emerge from the ground. A majority of the cicadas will be found south of I-275 and west of I-71.

** UPDATE - Check out the Cicada Mapping Tool! **

Treenotes reports that the cicadas have been underground, sucking sap from tree roots for the last 17 years, and they will be emerging to mate, not feed. However, female cicadas will cut slits in small branches and lay eggs in the wounds. This will often cause the end of the branch to die. On a large, healthy tree, the damage won’t be life threatening, but it could injure a small tree seriously. So be sure to cover young tree branches and leaves with cheese cloth which can be found at any hardware store, nursery, or home improvement store to protect them from damage.

Cicadas aren’t poisonous. However, keep an eye on any person or animal (small children, cats, dogs, etc.) that might be tempted to gorge themselves on the bugs so that they don’t choke or eat so many they become sick. Cicadas may fly into or land on you, but they do not sting or bite. If you hold one for a long time and it decides you are a tree, it may try to feed on you.

The adult cicadas should all die off by mid-June. Then in about a month, the eggs they’ve laid (about 400 for each female) in tree branches will hatch, and their offspring will fall to the ground, where they’ll dig in for the next 17 year cycle in 2021.