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Cicadas will soon begin dying in large numbers in the Chicago and Illinois area, if they haven’t already, but that doesn’t mean the 2024 cicada invasion will simply end.

Residents will still have to wait for the piles of dead crickets to decompose and new eggs to hatch and enter the ground, where they will remain for another 13 or 17 years.

But how long does decomposition take, does it stink and what do you do with the dead crickets?

Here’s a breakdown.

What happens now?

The cicada palooza has brought insect numbers unlike anything many have seen before to Illinois and parts of the US – and the same numbers that flew through the air will soon fall to the ground.

“What you saw was biblical,” says biologist Gene Kritsky, who has been hunting periodical cicadas for 50 years but was still amazed by the three to five million cicadas in a small patch of Ryerson Conservation Area north of Chicago. “There are things I saw this time that I’ve never seen before.”

Now the great double periodic emergence of cicadas in 2024 – an event of a magnitude not seen since 1803 – may come to a halt.

According to Kritsky, the event will likely last until the end of the month, but the ending will be almost as dramatic as the rise itself.

“It will be noticeably over,” Kritsky said. “It was amazing.”

Before all signs of crickets are gone, there will be a period of decomposition that could lead to an unpleasant odor for those experiencing most of the emergence.

While several suburbs are reporting huge numbers of cicadas, some parts of the region have reported almost none, especially in the northwest suburbs and in Chicago itself, according to a map tracking cicada sightings in the US. These areas probably won’t see much of anything now that the emergence phase is largely over.

According to the National Museum of Natural History, adult crickets only have three to four weeks to live after emerging from the ground.

Once they mate, male crickets complete their life cycle, while female crickets then make crevices in tree branches and lay eggs.

Some males may die shortly after reproduction, but most “will not immediately perish upon mating” and will live a short while longer.

Some may already see dead crickets on the ground.

What do I smell?

While there are many benefits to what comes next, the smell associated with piles of decomposing insects can be unpleasant.

As crickets begin to die off in greater numbers toward the end of the month, it will take some time for their bodies to decompose back into the soil.

Depending on the weather, Kritsky said the full decomposition process should take a few weeks, although the odor will end sooner, he said.

What should you do with the dead crickets?

The best answer, according to experts, is nothing. Those who can wait for the scent will actually reap the benefits.

“It’s free fertilizer for the tree,” Kritsky said.

Like their early lives, dead crickets actually bring an environmental benefit.

“The dead adult insects fall back to the ground and help fertilize the soil. You can even add dead crickets to your compost pile. It’s a good example of the natural life cycle,” according to the Nature Conservancy.

What about cicada eggs?

For those who saw large numbers of cicadas during this rise, there could be another chance to witness the historic cicada scene unfolding this summer.

That’s when the eggs start to hatch in mid-July.

“The eggs hatch six to seven weeks later, the nymphs fall to the ground and enter the soil, and the cycle begins again,” according to the Natural History Museum.

Hatching takes place between six and 10 weeks after the eggs are laid and while it is rare to catch a glimpse of the moment, Kritsky said that when conditions are right, the moment could be visible in the vicinity Chicago.

“If the sun is at the right angle, people have actually seen the nymphs fall to the ground,” Kritsky said, noting that the sun should be behind the tree where the eggs hatch, “to illuminate them as they traps.”

Trees in areas with large outbreaks could contain as many as 40,000 eggs waiting to hatch, he added.