Cicadas and now Copperheads in Arkansas – What’s Going on?

As most of you know trillions of cicadas are beginning to emerge across the Midwestern and  Southern United States including Arkansas.

Emerging in Arkansas

The emerging cicadas start around mid-May and will last into late June or slightly longer depending on when they emerge. The two broods, Brood XIX and Brood XII are in a 13 or 17-year cycle, with so many cicadas arriving so do venomous copperhead snakes who are attracted by the noise they make.

Cicadas to copperheads are like a delicacy they love them because they are rich in protein more than what a mouse would have. Copperheads are known to eat a lot of insects besides cicadas they like katydids and caterpillars.

Brood XIX is already starting to emerge in Southwest Arkansas.

Copperheads are not aggressive to humans unless provoked as is in most cases with snakes. It's best to avoid trees, bushes, and shrubs where snakes could be hiding and if you spot one just step away and leave it alone. According to WCOC-TV, in North Carolina, the copperheads are going to go to the areas where the cicadas are most active so they may be more visible than they usually are especially at night when the cicadas are out.

Brood XIX is typically found in Arkansas and is the largest and loudest insect not only in Arkansas but in the world. The brood’s last emergence was 2011 and the next will be 2037. According to iNaturalist.org, reports of cicadas are being spotted north of the Ozarks along the Arkansas-Missouri border in the Ouachita Mountains near Hot Springs, and east of Jonesboro scattered reports in southern Arkansas around Crossett, Warren, and Camden so far.

Have you seen or heard any cicadas yet?