The cicadas are coming, but not to Oscoda

Take off your crash helmets. Put those outdoor family picnics back on your calendars. The 17-year cicadas are not coming to northeastern Michigcan this summer. Despite rumors to the contrary, those buzzing, rather un-handsome, red-eyed, 1-to-2-inch long, flying creatures won't emerge from underground in these parts EVER.

But they are coming by the millions to Livingston, Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne and Lenawee counties. If you haven't seen a cicada and are wondering if you will, here's a good rule of thumb -- they are primarily in older neighborhoods. "If the tree hasn't been there for 17 years, then you're probably not going to be affected by this brood," says Robert Ahern, an entomologist at the University of Maryland.

According to Dr. Thomas Moore, a former professor at the University of Michigan, the best viewing will be in the northwest and northeast edges of Ann Arbor. He is predicting the cicadas will appear in the next few days and will be gone by the Fourth of July.

For those not wanting to make the trip south to see them, visit the University of Michigan's Periodical Cicada web page. Here you will find more than you ever wanted to know about cicadas including broods, identifying pictures, life cycle, maps and song samples.