Cicadas

16 years ago

I just received the following alert regarding the 17 year cicadas.

"The northern Illinois brood, which will emerge in late May 2007, has a reputation for the largest emergence of cicadas known anywhere. During the 1956 emergence, they counted an average of 311 nymphal emergence holes per square yard of ground in a forested floodplain near Chicago. This translates to 1Â½ million cicadas per acre."

Since part of my property is on forested floodplain, I'm going to have noisy summer nights this year! I figure I'll have about 2 million cicadas.

-Deerslayer

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Comments (12)

subywu
16 years ago
Try and take some pictures for us!
decklap
16 years ago
Me and deerslayer probably aren't going to get
a lot of sleep the next few weeks. On the plus
side those cidada shells are supposed to be
pretty good fertilizer
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i noticed my cicada killer wasps are active in the barn .... now that is a bug that might startle the bejesus out of you on size ... especially when its carrying a cicada ... but once you get over that... my best buds .. lol .. about 2 weeks ago.. i started to hear my first whiny calls.. a week later.. i see the wasp nests.. and no more noise ... ken https://www.google.com/search?site=webhp&tbm=isch&q=Sphecius+speciosus&chips=q:sphecius+speciosus,g_2:cicada&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijsZeirMDVAhXK7IMKHb-gD9QQ4lYIKygC&biw=907&bih=746&dpr=0.9
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Comments (6)
Totoro, What you have there is a flightless cicada nymph that emerged from the ground where it spent from one year to 16 years (from the looks of yours I believe it is a non-periodic cicada), in the ground growing while sucking the sap of tree roots, primarily. It will live a month our two as a winged, flying adult, mate and die. None survive winter. Before dying, the females lay eggs in slits made high up in tree twigs. The part of the twig beyond the slit dies. The cicada is actually pruning the tree, especially when the periodic cicada, which takes either 13 or 16 years to mature, comes out in massive, synchronized hordes. During years of periodic cicada's 'invasions', trees in the forest can be seen with a multitude of dead twig tips ( light brown, dead, shriveled leaves attached to foot long twigs, hanging by a thread to the live section of twig below the slit until they soon drop off), where a female cicada slit it and laid her eggs in the slit. Soon the eggs hatch and the tiny nymphs fall to the ground. There they burrow down and start sucking the root sap of oaks, maples, and the like, and grow for one to nine or more years until they emerge and look like your cicada. Adult cicadas do eat by sucking sap with their mouths. They could do some damage to a rose, I imagine, but their substantial food source is big, tall trees, where they do acceptable, and mostly negligible damage. They are a significant, awesome native member of our ecosystem. The male's song during late summer evenings is wonderful! Cicadas can bite with their proboscis. It is painful, but not dangerous. They will only bite defensively if handled, especially carelessly. They do not seek out and attack people. Sometimes a flying cicada will land on you or crash into your face. They are not among he most graceful of fliers, and their directional control seems erratic. When they fall on their backs they take a fit, struggling to upright themselves. It's amusing to watch them upright themselves and regain their dignity. I like cicadas. Cicadas are related to leafhoppers! Moses
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Comments (8)
Those cicadas don't really do much eating -- they just fly around clumsily, mate and die. I went though one re-emergence in my old garden (don't remember if it was the 13- or the 17-year brood). There was some damage to trees where females made cuts in the bark to lay eggs, and some smaller branches didn't make it. But nothing plants can't recover from. I'd say a bigger problem was people's dogs getting sick after gorging on gazillions of dead bugs. Your plants should be fine -- or you can wrap smaller trees in gauze if you want to make sure they are not damaged. I've heard from my old sources back East that this cycle is not going to be so bad. The cold weather damaged lots of nymphs as they were emerging from the soil. The next emergence will be in 2024, so your plants will definitely be old enough.
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Comments (16)
Cicada killer wasps don’t ”dive bomb”. considering their solitary nests are small tunnels in the ground. They aren’t considered particularly aggressive but their sting, when delivered, is a mighty one. I stepped on one in my bare feet several years ago and I’ve been told that my screech can still be heard to this day, wafting in the morning mists of the Lowcountry. The male wasps are harmless and cannot sting; the females, though armed, never attack an intruder. Arcy is confusing these dive bombers with something else. If anything, these particular wasps should be considered beneficial and left alone.
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deerslayer
Original Author
16 years ago
On the bright side, 311 holes per square yard should help soften our soil. Since insects are very high in protein, I plan to mulch mow any carcasses that fall on my lawn.

-Deerslayer
bestlawn
16 years ago
Great idea!
deerslayer
Original Author
16 years ago
Here's a link to a movie about the 17-Year Cicadas.

Cicadas

-Deerslayer
bestlawn
16 years ago
Wondering if you should gather and compost them first?
bogey123
16 years ago
the critters love those bugs. A few weeks ago the Chicago Tribune did a story on them that was fairly interesting.
decklap
16 years ago
Bestlawn I think you can do both. I know
lots of folks who are looking forward to
spreading cicada compost but you can also
leave where they lay and let break down
bpgreen
16 years ago
A few years ago when one of the other broods was hatching, I remember some newspaper articles with recipes for cicadas.

I just googled cicada recipe and found a few. I'm not sure how adventurous you are, but if you want some revenge for the loss of sleep . . .
iowa50126
16 years ago
Chocolate covered cicadas....yummm!
deerslayer
Original Author
16 years ago
I think I'll pass on the following recipe.

-Deerslayer

El Chirper Tacos

Ingredients:

1/2 pound newly emerged cicadas
2 tablespoons butter or peanut oil
2 serrano chilies, raw, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground pepper or to taste
1/2 tsp cumin
3 tsp taco seasoning mix
1 handful cilantro, chopped
Taco shells, to serve
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese
Shredded lettuce

Directions

1. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan and fry the cicadas for 10 minuts, or until cooked through.

2. Remove from pan and roughly chop into 1/4-inch cubes/ Place back in pan.

3. Add the chopped onions, chilies and tomato, season with salt, and fry for another 5 minutes on medium-low heat.

4. Sprinkle with ground pepper, cumin and oregano to taste.

5. Serve in taco shells and garnish with cilantro, sour cream, lettuce and cheddar cheese.
joepyeweed
16 years ago
I found my first red-eyed cicada of the season last night. I did take a picture of it. Haven't downloaded off of my camera yet, but I will eventually. I am not really looking forward to thousands, but the first one is always exciting.

Cicadas

Comments (12)

subywu

decklap

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Cicadas

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