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Cicada Mania Continues
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The Periodical Cicada Life Cycle:
- Cicadas appear in late May or early June
- During this adult stage they do not feed
- Male cicadas create a buzzing, clicking sound to attract females
- Within a week of emerging they mate
- Females deposit eggs 7-10 days after emergence
- Injury to plants caused by female cicadas as they insert their
eggs into twigs
- The female cicada punctures the bark of a twig multiple times
to make "pockets" to lay eggs
- A female cicada lays 400 to 600 eggs
- 70-80 types of plants are susceptible to damage
- Eggs are especially laid in the wood of oak, hickory, apple,
peach, and grape
- Within a month of mating, the adults die
- Nymphs hatch from the eggs and enter the ground
- Nymphs continue to grow underground until the spring of the
17th yeaer
- Then the nymphs dig to the surface, often creating mud turrets
on top of the ground
- Nymphs leave the ground and climb tall objects, such as trees
- Here the nymph molts and sheds its skin
- The newly emerged adult soon hardens and darkens
- Here the nymph molts and sheds its skin
Cicada Facts
- About 3,000 types of cicadas populate the globe
- Only the eastern half of the US has the unique set of species
called periodical cicadas that spend years underground
- Cicadas can only fly as far as half a mile
- An adult cicada is about 1 5/8" long
- Periodical cicadas have no defense mechanism (such as toxins);
their sheer volume is their survival tactic
Cicada Control
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