Photos: Brood X cicadas emerge in US States after 17 years underground

A periodical cicada is seen in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Some are waiting for their arrival with trepidation, others are curious what they might taste like: Americans are swapping tips on how best to weather the storm when billions of cicadas emerge after 17 years underground.

A cicada from Brood X clings to a flower in Falls Church, Virginia. Before invading parks and people's gardens, the insects have already conquered the airwaves, social media and newspapers, especially in parts of the eastern, central and southern United States where "Brood X" is due to emerge.

A Magicicada periodical cicada shell is left clinging to a blade of grass after molting in Takoma Park, Maryland. Once soil temperatures reach about 64°F, billions and billions of these periodical cicadas will emerge in fifteen states and the District of Columbia.

A recently emerged cicada is seen in Oakton. The cicadas will emerge, molt, mate, lay eggs and die within a matter of weeks.

A bird uses its beak to thrash a periodical cicada in its newly molted tendrel stage before eating it in Takoma Park, Maryland. A high-protein source of food for birds, animals and other insects, the cicadas are emerging in the eastern United States and some Midwestern states after living underground and feeding off of tree roots for 17 years.

A Magicicada periodical cicada rests on the arm of a child in Arlington, Virginia.

An adult cicada emerges out of its shell, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Cicadas make holes to come out of the ground, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Lucy, a domesticated golden buff chicken eats a newly molted periodical cicada in the front yard of her owner Mark Verschell's home in Takoma Park, Maryland.

A cluster of periodical cicadas in various forms of molting from nymph to adult cling to a leaf in Takoma Park, Maryland.

A newly emerged adult cicada wriggles out of its shell, in Louisville, Kentucky.

newly molted periodical cicada clings to a plant in Takoma Park, Maryland.

A Magicicada periodical cicada begins to molt from its nymph state as it clings to the branch of a tree in Arlington, Virginia.

A newly emerged adult cicada prepares itself to mate, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Entomologist Michael Raupp looks at a cicada nymph shell on a tree at the University of Maryland campus in College Park.

Newly emerged adult cicadas leave their shells attached to tree leaves after they wriggle out of them, in Louisville, Kentucky.

A squirrel holds the body of a periodical cicada in its mouth while climbing a tree on the grounds of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

A cicada comes out of its shell, in Louisville, Kentucky.

A nymph stage Brood X cicada is seen near a tree in Rock Creek park in Washington, DC.

A newly emerged adult cicada dries its wings on a leaf in College Park, Maryland.

A newly emerged adult cicada dries its wings on a tree, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Newly emerged adult cicadas try to mate, in Louisville, Kentucky.