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Answers To Questions About Cicadas and 17 years locusts
Subjects > Animals > Insects > Cicada
See also Cicadids
Visit the Chat11 [Cicada Picture Gallery].
Common Questions Asked About Cicadas
Q. Why do these loud and menacing creatures only appear once in a while?
These insects spend 17 years as nymphs living underground and feeding on roots of shrubs and plants. You only notice them when they emerge, shed their skin, and become adults. Some live as adults for up to 4 to 6 weeks, when they sing their songs, mate, lay eggs, and later die.
Q. Can cicadas hurt me or my pet?
No. Cicadas do not bite, and are harmless. However, there are reports of Cicada Allergies .
Some experts recommend carefully monitoring how many cicadas your pets eat.
"Just imagine how you would react if inundated with thousands of flying Hershey Kisses," said Gene Kritsky biologist and cicada expert at College of Mt. St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. "You might go nuts. I'd go nuts. That's what happens to dogs or squirrels."
Q. What can I do to ease the stress caused by cicadas around my home and garden?
Several tactics can help control the damage to young plants:
- Cultural Control - Delay planting of new orchards until late summer or fall in the years when adult cicada emergence is predicted. This prevents them from injuring the young plants as they lay their eggs in slits that they cut in the plants.
- Cultural Control - Prevent Egg Laying - Nylon netting or cheescloth can be ued to protect trees in small orchards. The netting should have a mesh of no less than 1/4 inch and should be placed over the trees when the first male songs are heard. The netting should be tied to the trunk beneath the lower branches and can be removed after adult activity has ended.
- Cultural Control - Remove Eggs - Prune out and destroy young twigs that have been damaged by egg laying within a three week period after eggs are laid. This will prevent newly emerged nymphs from reaching the ground.
- Chemical Control - Nurseries or Orchards - Ornamental nurseries and orchards near woods should be scouted every two to three days during the egg laying period to detect incomming females. Sprays may be necessary if egg laying activity is apparent; sprays are targeted against egg-laying adults. Insecticides labeled for use on cicadas include:
- carbaryl (=Sevin),
- chlorpyrifos (=Dursban, Lorsban),
- esfenvalerate (=Asana)
- resmethrin.
- Fruit orchards using methomyl (=Lannate), oxamyl (=Vydate) or permethrin (=Pounce, Ambush) in a cover spray need not add a special cicada insecticide. Applications of Sevin or Vydate within 21 days after apple full bloom may cause thinning. The use of pyrethroids, Vydate or Sevin is cautioned in orchards because of the subsequent problems with increased spider mite densities due to toxicity to predatory mites.
- Chemical Control - Landscape Ornamentals - The insecticides carbaryl (=Sevin) and chlorpyrifos (=Dursban) have products labeled to protect shrubs and trees. Either can be applied about once a week, although blooming plants should be avoided to preserve honey bees and other pollinating insects.
More information about preventing plant damage from Cicadas:
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Common Questions Asked About Cicadas
