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The Cicadas are coming, the Cicadas are coming.

cityboy-stl

Feed Me. I'm scared.
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The Cicada invasion is expected to begin here next week. Much has been said about the double emergence of the 13 and 17 year Cicada broods at the same time. But except for the narrow lines where they cross, they do emerge at the same time, but not together in the same place.

Nevertheless, the 13-year variety is expected to show up with 40-60 billion (yes, Billion) Cicadas just in St. Louis City, not including the County which is even larger than the city. Fortunately, Cicadas are harmless. They don't bite and they don't carry diseases. Supposedly, they are good to eat. A number of websites and Facebook pages have recipes for grilling and deep-frying them, but I don't think I'm going to try any.

Cicadas do however make an enormous, loud, and annoying high-pitched racket trying to attract mates. They are fairly good-sized too, up to an inch and a quarter. The eggs can do a little damage to trees, especially smaller trees, but it is not generally significant. Cicadas are not locusts. I haven't seen any yet, but there are some early reports. They shed their skin and leave a lot of empty Cicada shells all over on tree trunks and other surfaces. We collected them when we were kids. The season lasts 4 to 6 weeks. It could be fun for a while. We'll see.

Do you live in Cicada Land as well?


Cicada.jpg
 
Yes, but so far, mine have only come up in one small circular flower bed in front, near the big oak tree. There were about a dozen there Thursday as I went by to put out the trash tipper.

Haven't seen any others or heard any yet, but I figure it's early for them. I have two wooded acres, so expect it to be a noisy summer.

I don't remember the ones back home in Arkansas having the red eyes.

Took this pic Thursday on one of my hostas beneath the bird bath.

cz.JPG
 
Most people flee in terror from them, a distinction shared by flying roaches and wasps. I've never heard of anyone killing them. They don't eat plants or anything.

But we're one of the only species that don't. Cats, bluejays, raccoons, salmon, rats, and a host of others eat them like crazy.
 
Most people flee in terror from them. I've never heard of anyone killing them. They don't eat plants or anything.

But we're one of the only species that don't. Cats, bluejays, raccoons, salmon, rats, and a host of others eat them like crazy.
I’ve never seen a salmon in Indiana
 
I saw some documentary about them a few years back. They showed how everything ate them, and that they could detect the hatching in tree rings because the boost of nitrogen was enough to change the trees.
 
We have them here periodically....but for me, they are a sound of memory.

Summers for me are indelibly imprinted on me because of the sound of cicadas when I was growing up on the farm.
 
/\ That's what they used to say about flying squirrels.:)
 
We still don't have those either. Unfortunately, we're overrun with North American grey squirrels.

Give the little rascals time.

People bought them from pet shops. Some have escaped while others have been released when people got tired of keeping them. (Like the large snakes in Florida) They're only just getting started, but quickly getting established.
 
There is a wild population of parakeets which most likely is the result of escapes or releases. I've never seen one here, but I saw several in Amsterdam.
 
We're sure to see a lot of shifting [natural] habitats as global warming continues.
 
I read up a bit this morning on them again.

They don't feed much as an adult, but they do some. They suck sap from trees, but not to any harm.

When they lay eggs, they pierce the bark of young twigs and insert the eggs inside. They later hatch and fall to the ground to start the cycle all over again, feeding on tree roots until they emerge.

The article said mature trees are not significantly damaged by the process, but young saplings may be, so if you have some, or some fruit tree you want to protect, netting is recommended.

Poisons are not, as they kill everything else, and the swarm is so massive that poisons won't get them anyways.

Also noteworthy is that they are attracted to the vibrations of mowers and power equipment like trimmers, so remember that if you decide to mow during the day when they are all about. Recommendation is to mow early before they become as active.
 
As usual, the media make much ado about absolutely nothing. Making it sound like invasion of the body snatchers or crop destroying hordes of locusts as one of the seven plagues.
 
There are so many bugs that do bite and/or sting, though. Nobody takes time to ask a bug for credentials, we just start swatting to avoid any possible harm.

I've only ever seen them in movies, but I think that if they are climbing trees, they must have sharp grippy legs. I wouldn't want them on my skin or trapped/tangled in my clothes or hair. And definitely not squished on me. Yuck!

Do they poop everywhere? Do they stain things?
 
There are so many bugs that do bite and/or sting, though. Nobody takes time to ask a bug for credentials, we just start swatting to avoid any possible harm.

I've only ever seen them in movies, but I think that if they are climbing trees, they must have sharp grippy legs. I wouldn't want them on my skin or trapped/tangled in my clothes or hair. And definitely not squished on me. Yuck!

Do they poop everywhere? Do they stain things?

They only drink liquid sap, so they don't have any solids to poop.

However, they don't just drip urine like aphids, they spray it:


That said, they don't drink often, so it's not like it's gonna rain cicada pee. And it appears clear, so not exactly a stain like bird poop.

The clinging legs aren't exactly scratchy, but many people do panic when they feel them gripping them or climbing on them.

They really aren't dangerous or harmful. It's more of a natural wonder. When locusts swarm, we have a plague. When roaches, or flies, or gnats, we have a nightmare.

These are just a quirky biorhythm that we are privileged to witness. Nature has created some marvellous strategies to cope with environmental challenges.
 
There are so many bugs that do bite and/or sting, though. Nobody takes time to ask a bug for credentials, we just start swatting to avoid any possible harm.

I've only ever seen them in movies, but I think that if they are climbing trees, they must have sharp grippy legs. I wouldn't want them on my skin or trapped/tangled in my clothes or hair. And definitely not squished on me. Yuck!

Do they poop everywhere? Do they stain things?
They molt their shell and that can add up to a mess.
 
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