Cicadas; good, bad, neutral?

shlacm · July 19, 2010

We have lots of the noisy things around here... at least that's my assumption from all the noise they make! I've never actually seen one until last night and it was on one of my tomato plants. Odd looking critter! So, I'm wondering if they are good or bad for the plants... or neither.

huntoften · July 19, 2010

The adults are harmless except for laying eggs. They cut a slit in branches of trees and lay the eggs...can damage or kill the branch, but doesn't hurt the tree much. The larva munch on tree roots underground.

The Dog Day cicadas come out every year, but the periodical ones come out every 13, 17, or 19 years i think. Very cool insects!

Long story short...don't worry about your garden when it comes to Cicadas.

shlacm · July 19, 2010

Good to know, thanks for the response.

mjc · July 19, 2010

13 and 17 yrs...with some coming out a year or to early to a year or two late. The main 'hatch' though will fall at 13 or 17 yrs, depending on which area you are in.

There are also 3 and 5 yr variants of the 'annual' ones.

Other than making trees 'unsightly', they do no harm and are a great source of bird food.

**Mischka** · July 21, 2010

The buzz of cicadas invokes old memories of summer days from my childhood... those were the carefree, lazy days.

shlacm · July 21, 2010

The one I saw looked like picture #4. My husband says the ones here are usually tan/light brown.

Timmah! · July 21, 2010

All I know from my years in Kentucky is that when you hear the Cicadas, it's pretty gosh darnoodley hot & humid by that time of the year. =) Had a big hatch last year & they were absolutely everywhere! Had one fly into the window of my car while driving, bounce off my head & make it's final resting place in the crevice where my back windshield meets the back dash or whatever you call it. Just left it there for kicks.

shlacm · July 21, 2010

Timmah, do y'all ever get the Hercules Beetles? Apparently they migrate through here and occasionally collide with the lights in parking lots and get disoriented... even so, I've only seen 2 in the nearly 12 years I've been here.

Timmah! · July 21, 2010

I've seen them around, mostly when I'm traipsing through some remote woods on my way to some fishing spots & set up a black light upon my arrival. It helps me see my fishing line which is luminescent, so that I can tell if it gets hung in any of the adjacent tree branches.

July 19, 2010	#1
shlacm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Central VA Posts: 436	Cicadas; good, bad, neutral? We have lots of the noisy things around here... at least that's my assumption from all the noise they make! I've never actually seen one until last night and it was on one of my tomato plants. Odd looking critter! So, I'm wondering if they are good or bad for the plants... or neither.

July 19, 2010	#2
huntoften Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kansas CIty Posts: 560	The adults are harmless except for laying eggs. They cut a slit in branches of trees and lay the eggs...can damage or kill the branch, but doesn't hurt the tree much. The larva munch on tree roots underground. The Dog Day cicadas come out every year, but the periodical ones come out every 13, 17, or 19 years i think. Very cool insects! Long story short...don't worry about your garden when it comes to Cicadas. __________________ Kansas City, Missouri Zone 5b/6a

July 19, 2010	#4
mjc Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: WV Posts: 603	13 and 17 yrs...with some coming out a year or to early to a year or two late. The main 'hatch' though will fall at 13 or 17 yrs, depending on which area you are in. There are also 3 and 5 yr variants of the 'annual' ones. Other than making trees 'unsightly', they do no harm and are a great source of bird food.

July 21, 2010	#6
shlacm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Central VA Posts: 436	The one I saw looked like picture #4. My husband says the ones here are usually tan/light brown.

July 21, 2010	#7
Timmah! Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky 6a Posts: 754	All I know from my years in Kentucky is that when you hear the Cicadas, it's pretty gosh darnoodley hot & humid by that time of the year. =) Had a big hatch last year & they were absolutely everywhere! Had one fly into the window of my car while driving, bounce off my head & make it's final resting place in the crevice where my back windshield meets the back dash or whatever you call it. Just left it there for kicks.