19159

I read your article with great interest. There was a minor emergence of periodical cicadas this year in the area. However, despite what the article says, I don’t believe it was a brood emerging 4 years early. In 1983, 4 years before the last major emergence, there was a similar minor emergence. The 2000 emergence is presumably the descendents of the 1983 brood coming out right on schedule. I have a few exoskeletons from 1983, 1987, and 2000, if anyone wants to study them.

Bobby Baum
Bethesda, Md.