Summertime means cicada season and hearing those buzzing sounds every time you walk outside. In some areas of the country like Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia, these bugs spread like wildfire; people can never seem to get away from them. The cicadas in North Carolina will be making beautiful noise this season so local residents might want to prepare now.

There are some species of cicadas that only come out every 13 or 17 years. The breed heading towards North Carolinians this summer is the Brood IX species. These bugs have been hiding in forest floors; when they come out of hiding, they’re officially in the last stage of their life cycle.

These insects start coming out of the ground and live on tree limbs and buzz away until they die.

This species hasn't been seen in public since 2003 so it’s going to be a louder summer than usual. According to Cicada Mania, “The prevailing research suggests they’ve evolved a long, 17-year lifecycle to avoid predators that can sync up with their lifecycle.”

Experts have put out a list of counties and municipalities of where they think the cicadas will be the most active.

For North Carolina, these towns and cities include Chestnut Hill, Ennice, Francisco, Hays, Kernersville, McGrady, Millers Creek, Mt Airy, North Wilkesboro, Purlear, Thurmond, Westfield, Ashe, Alleghany, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry and Wilkes.

Residents can expect to start hearing these insects around mid-May until late June.

Cicada Mania reports that they'll begin to come out "when the soil 8″ beneath the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit (Heath, 1968). A nice, warm rain will often trigger an emergence."

There’s actually an app, The Cicada Safari App, that’ll keep everyone up-to-date on where the insects are. People can even report their own findings with photos. The app is currently available for Android and Apple devices.

These insects are completely harmless, but they might annoy residents throughout the summer.