Rare feast: why cicadas are appearing on US menus

Ron DeSantis won’t like it (he’s pro-beef, anti-bugs). But a new source of protein is emerging across the midwest and southeast US. Two broods of periodical cicadas – Brood XIX and Brood XIII – are emerging after 13 and 17 years underground respectively. The last time both broods emerged at the same time was in 1803 – before Illinois existed as a state. For their predators (usually animals, although some US restaurants are now serving them) it’s a “food bonanza”, says entomologist Greg Kritsky, as if the whole world was “swarming with flying Hershey’s Kisses”. Their abundance is the key to their survival: emerging in the billions for a brief, cacophonous summer to mate and lay eggs ready for the next cycle. Cicada cookies, anyone?