Cicada chaos is flourishing and flying in the American Midwest. Trillions of once hidden baby bugs are in the air, on the trees and perching upon people's shirts, hats and even faces. They're red-eyed, loud and frisky. The males are singing for sex and won't stop until they get a female cicada's flapping wing consent. There were places in Illinois the decibel level hit 101, louder than a lawnmower. The great dual periodical cicada emergence of 2024 — an event of a magnitude not seen since 1803 — has burst from below ground. It joins April's solar eclipse and May's Northern Lights for a triple crown of recent natural wonders in the U.S.

Climate change and habitat loss from big agriculture are combining to swat down global insect populations, with each problem making the other …

American farmers are using smaller amounts of better targeted pesticides, but these are harming pollinators, aquatic insects and some plants f…