The Cicadas are Coming!
It has been 17 years since the Brood X (pronounced brood 10) Cicadas last emerged and descended on Maryland and the surrounding region. Right now in early April the larva are tunneling under the ground towards the surface to make their debut! The exact timing of this depends on the temperature of the soil. Once the soil temperature a foot below the surface reaches 64 degrees the emergence begins!
The first sign that the party is beginning are small dime sized holes in the ground all over (I mean ALL OVER). Next we will see the white nymphs crawling towards and up the trees (or anything vertical) and molting. You will not be able to miss the discarded exoskeletons everywhere! After a few days the adult Cicadas harden into the large (1 inch long bodies with 3 inch wide wingspreads and big red beady eyes) insects that fascinate and repulse us.
The adults sole purpose in life is to mate. They do not eat anything, bite or sting. They do not consume plants, vegetables, other bugs or naughty children. The males make a loud mating noise that can be deafening in large numbers. The females lay their eggs in the branches of trees and then fairly quickly the adults perish. Since young trees can be severely damaged by this mass egg laying, it is advised to not plant fruit or other trees this spring. Most adult trees will survive. The brood has no interest in your veggie plants.
All of this happens somewhere between mid April and the first week of June. The 17 year Brood X survives because of the sheer number of insects that emerge at once. They are easy targets for any predators and many small animals, birds, and other insects dine on them until they can eat no more. The ones that don’t get immediately eaten will reproduce. I have heard that the Cicadas are tasty fried and are low in fat and high in protein. I do not think that I will be adventurous and try them, but let me know if you do. I hear they taste like chicken.
Check out the MD extension service website for more information. University of Maryland Extension (umd.edu)