Nature's Edge - The Cicadas are Coming! - April 2007

2007 is the year the periodical cicada comes out of the ground to mate. The last such mass appearance was in 1990. This 17 year cicada appearance will result in millions of cicadas inhabiting our woodlands and singing their love song. Cicadas are insects known for the loud noise they make during the summer months. This noise is created by the male cicada who is singing to find a mate. Cicadas are the loudest insect in the world. They can create sounds in excess of 90 decibels!

In spring the female cicada will lay hundreds of eggs in grooves on tree branches. Many times this will kill the small branches causing the branch to fall from the tree. This is called flagging. Flagging is not dangerous for the tree. Once the eggs hatch, the nymphs fall to the ground and dig into the earth where they will feast on tree sap in the root systems of the trees for seventeen years. At the end of seventeen years, the nymph has finally reached maturity or the adult phase. Adults are between one and one-half and two inches in length. They have black bodies, colorful eyes and wings.

Male adult cicadas are the ones responsible for all of the noise. They are loudly singing to find a mate. Adult cicadas live for approximately four to six weeks. During that time they find their partner, mate and die. Once mating has taken place, the female lays hundreds of eggs and the process starts over.

Depending on our spring, we could see the emergence of the 17 year cicada in April or as late as June. There are more than 100 species of cicadas in North America. In addition to periodic cicadas (with life cycles 13 or 17 years in length), we also have annual cicadas.