DW: A quiet park is a happy park.
Guests at Kings Island near Cincinnati have a new rule this month: keep your mouth shut on roller coasters, or you might swallow a cicada. Billions of red-eyed Brood 14 bugs have popped out of the ground around the park, coating trees and filling the air with nonstop buzzing. Entomologist Gene Kritsky says this brood first wowed settlers back in 1634 and returns every 17 years. TikTok clips show riders screaming as cicadas land on shirts or hair mid-loop.
Hope Daniels filmed her son’s wide-eyed reaction and joked the insects “waited a decade just to terrorize us.” Kritsky’s advice is simple: enjoy the rare sight, but clamp your lips before the first drop. Parkgoers are starting to treat the harmless bugs like thrill-ride mascots, even cheering when one finishes the coaster with them. The invasion should fade in a few weeks, leaving only crunchy shells and fun stories behind.
Source: Lex18
