I had a noisy little cicada perched on one of my brugs. I don't know what variety this cicada is but my favorites are the 17 year kind but this guy was pretty cool in his own right.
Karyn

I couldn't find my best pictures of our 17 year locusts, but I can easily say that I didn't enjoy them or the damage they did. We had tens of thousands of them. When it rained, many of them died and it smelled horrible for days. They ate the bark off our fruit trees and ornamental trees. My dogwood tree still has a splint on it. They were so bad that for six weeks, we couldn't even sit on our deck. It won't be long and we will have them again. I hate to even think about it.






ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5

We had tens of thousands also. You couldn't hear if you went outside. All the dead ones were pretty gross but the soil got fertilized and the animals that eat insects had a great food supply. The only problem we had were rats!!!!! YUCK!!!! We are pretty much in the country and the last thing I expected to see was a rat. That is the one time we did use poison. We called an exterminator who set traps around our deck. They said that the rat population exploded because of the ample food supply the cicadas provided and they were everywhere. They really freaked me out and I was afraid to go in the backyard.

The 17 year cicadas don't eat as adults. The damage you saw was from the females burrowing into the branches to deposit their eggs. The branches with the eggs inside will weaken and fall then the larva burrow into the ground where they remain for the next 17 years. We had to cover a couple hundred young PG hydrangea and lilac trees with netting to protect them.

When I got married in 86 there was an emergence. The day after the wedding my inlaws hosted a brunch. Well they lived on a heavily wooded lot and there were more then a few cicadas. They even made their way into the tent and were landing all over the guests and waiters. lol The thought of a cicada emergence never crossed ours or the party planner's minds when the outdoor brunch was planned.
Karyn

LOL! I should have said they chewed the bark off. I knew they didn't eat it. We had a neighbor who would go out and wisk them off the trunks of her trees onto newspapers and then roll them up and burn them. I didn't like them, but I don't think I could have done that, either. What I really couldn't stand was when they would craw onto my neck or arms. Stuck a sticky feeling. LOL!

ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5

Here's a shot of the cicada shddings beneath a large oak tree in our daughter's lawn in May. Our 3 year old granddaughter, Kaylee, had a ball learning about them. The stench was pretty bad for a few days.








Jarie
Mission, TX
Rio Grande Valley
Zone 9

Jarie that's a whole lotta cicada shells! The kids really do get a kick out of them. Your grand daughter is adorable.
Karyn