WATCH: Brood X cicadas have arrived! Here's everything you need to know

It happens every 17 years. Billions of cicadas dig out of the dirt where they lived for nearly two decades. They shed their carapaces, climb into the treetops, mate and die all in a four week period. But why? William Brangham leads you through all of PBS NewsHour’s coverage of the 2021 Brood X cicada emergence.
Chapters:
0:00 What to expect
6:41 Taco time and other cicada treats
8:35 2004 Time machine
17:06 Memories of emergences past
23:02 Viewer cicada questions, answered
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