National Geographic To Highlight Cicada Madness in One Illinois Village

Cicada mania is in high gear right now in parts of Illinois, and National Geographic just stopped in one Illinois village to photograph the craziness.

Cicadapocalypse in Pecatonica, Illinois

Never in a million years did I think I would ever be excited about millions of insects taking over the small village I live in, but here we are living our best cicada-obsessed life.

If you haven't been treated to the sweet symphony of thousands of cicadas singing at once or witness hundreds of these insects crawling up and around one tree, come visit Pecatonica immediately.

Here are just a few examples of what it looks and sounds like around our village these days...

I have not seen any cicadas around my house yet, (probably because we live in a newer part of town and only have one tree in our yard), but every day for the last week my youngest daughter has been on a mission to find cicadas.

Normally this child is terrified of any bug, but she is fascinated by the cicadas. She picks them up, carries them around, even names them. (Catie, Mr. Pickles, and Mr. Noodles are my favorite names she has come up with so far, LOL!). My daughter understands that the cicadas won't be swarming Pecatonica for too much longer, but it looks like this experience will be getting national attention soon!

National Geographic Photographer Comes to Pecatonica, IL

The other day I noticed a post in one of the Pecatonica community Facebook groups that mentioned a National Geographic photographer was coming to town to take pics of the cicadas, so I reached out to the woman who posted it, Nikki Schoeny, to find out more.

Here is part of what she said;

I initially reached out to him because he put a post up on a page called Illinois Cicada Watch.

 

I sent him pictures of the boys blue eyed cicada they found and then photos of the cemetery in town that is full of cicadas. He was in Naperville and was heading to another location but when he saw the pictures, he immediately headed our way.

The world-renowned National Geographic photographer, named John Stanmeyer, has been doing a study of the Earth's soil for nearly two years, and the 17-year cicada emergence we are experiencing now is a big part of it due to the nutrients they give back to the soil.

Here are pictures Nikki shared with me from when Mr. Stanmeyer was in town...

When Can We See Pecatonica Featured by National Geographic?

After hearing about this cool experience in Pecatonica, of course I had to know when and where the photos would be published, and here is what Nikki said;

he really never knows what the magazine will choose to highlight with photos. He's been working on it since last year and likely will be completed in 2025.

So...I guess we'll have to wait a while and keep our fingers crossed for the chance to see Pecatonica in the national spotlight!

Thank you, Nikki for bringing this cool opportunity to Pecatonica, and for sharing your experience with me! I hope you keep enjoying the cicadas while we still can!