A purple felt blanket for the more balmy evening temps. A teddy bear — for companionship. And then a spritz of greenery for natural comfort.
What more could a newly emerged cicada want? For the insects lucky enough to appear on the front lawn of Stephanie and Fiona Tarrant’s Naperville home, that’s what awaits them: a bonafide cicada oasis. The mother and daughter have created a small habitat so the bugs can take a load off before they enjoy the rest of their weeks-long lifespans. A cicada rests on a purple felt blanket in a habitat sanctuary created by Naperville mother and daughter Stephanie and Fiona Tarrant as the insects’ historic double emergence gets underway.
(Tess Kenny/Naperville Sun) “I like seeing them crawl around in there,” Fiona, 10, said. “They’re cute.” After much anticipation, Illinois’ historic double cicada emergence is finally underway.
For the first time in more than two centuries, two broods of cicadas are converging on the state at the same time. They belong to Brood XIX, four species that appear every 13 years in the southeast, and Brood XIII, three species that appear every 17 years in northern Illinois. The last time this happened was in 1803, when Thomas Jeffreson was president and Illinois had yet to become a state.
Fiona — but her mom especially — have eagerly been awaiting the phenomenon to begin. Stephanie, who’s originally from Canada but moved to Westchester when she was Fiona’s age, recalled first seeing cicadas e.
