It’s That
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
It’s not a lunar eclipse or a new
comet streaking across the sky.
although it is something that hap
pens only once in 17 years.
It’s not something particularly
frightening to a farmer and doesn’t
have any earth-shattering implica
tions for those who care for lives
tock or horticultural crops.
But the 17-year periodical cica
das are back.
The what?
That’s right. The long-legged,
big-winged insects that make a sort
of extended, slicing, chirping
sound in the trees on summer even
ings aren’t the infamous locusts
that people sometimes mistake
them for. They’re simply called
cicadas (pronounced si-KAY-das ).
That particular rasping sound
identifies them. But why the
sound?
According to Dr. Tim Elkner,
Lancaster County extension agent,
the sound you hear is the male mat
ing call, dying to attract females
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Both male and female 17-year
cicadas measure about !'/• long.
They are similar to the more com
mon annual cicadas, the Dogday
Harvestflies, which are actually
larger, measuring up to about
VA inches, according to Elkner.
There are actually about six spe
cies of periodical cicadas, three
with a 17 -year cycle and three with
a 13-year cycle.
“The concern that farmers may
have is that the eggs are buried in
smaller branches, actually the
twigs of the tree, where they could
cause some damage,’ ’ said Elkner.
That could be a concern for orchar
dists with younger trees.
What happens is that the female,
using the blades of a saw-like
device on her abdomen, cuts sever
al small pockets in the bark of a
twig before depositing 400-600
eggs.
This process can cause small
limbs or seedlings to wilt and may
provide an opening for disease.
The adults live only about four
weeks above ground. But the twig
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injury they cause may be apparent
for several years.
Periodical cicadas are some
times called nature’s pruners,
since they cause the death of small
branches on trees.
But for the older, larger oak
trees and such, the only concern
would be that, once the eggs hatch,
the larvae burrow underground
and literally feed off the roots.
Cicada nymphs spend 17 years
from 2-24 inches underground,
sucking nutrients from plant roots.
The larvae actually stay under
ground for 17 years!
On some occasions, the adult
cicada sucks flud from small twigs
but does not feed on leaves.
The adult cicadas are clumsy
fliers, often colliding with objects
in flight.
The sound they make is their
most distinctive call, and occurs
from dawn until dusk.
Cicadas are completely harm
less to humans, don’t bite or sting,
and are not poisonous. They ha\e'
natural enemies, however
moles eat the immature cicadas
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during their long stay under
wl Birds ill
Both male and female 17-year cicadas measure about
11/*I 1 /* long. They are similar to the more common annual cica
das, the Dogday Harvestflies, which are actually larger,
measuring up to about l'/« Inches, according to Elkner.
There are actually about six species of periodical cicadas,
three with a 17-year cycle and three with a 13-year cycle.
I» r 1
t! 1
1/ i
Jj I
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 22, 1996-A27
adults. A wasp, called the cicada
kill* ->the r redaf
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