Rick Karlin is reporting for the Times Union contrary to scattered media reports and some web-based maps and reports, billions of cicadas will not be emerging in the Capital Region later this spring. Despite the hype surrounding the mass appearance of Brood X cicadas, they will not be crawling out of the ground around here or anywhere else in New York because they do not live here. Brood X is a variety of the thumbnail-sized insect that live and grow underground, emerging once every 17 years to breed and lay their eggs before dying after a few weeks. While hard to spot and harmless, their sound is pervasive when and where they emerge. The Brood X is supposed to be unusually loud, creating a rattling sound that can measure as high as 100 decibels, a sound level roughly equivalent to a passing subway train. But the Capital Region will miss out, said Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an entomologist with Cornell University's Integrated Pest Management program. In reality, Brood X, or the Great Eastern Brood, are expected to emerge in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia. They are identifiable by their red eyes. The various broods emerge at 11, 13 or 17-year cycles, said Gangloff-Kaufmann. The periodic appearances is believed to be an evolutionary adaptation. By spending just a few weeks above ground, they limit their exposure to predators such as birds or squirrels. Read the full story in the Times Union.