Circadas, Is This the Year?

Ruining a glass of wine is just beyond the pale (as in a nice Chard, or Sauv, or Riesling).

Torches and pitchforks - to battle!

OMG!!! They are almost gone! I can actually hear the birds chirping again. The little critters are shelled onto almost every tree out here, but that I can live with. At some point they will just help out the organic mulch.

As for the wine corruption, my condolences. That is a horrid way to settle in for the evening. Even a drop into a frosty cold mug isn't a good thing for the little boogers to do.

VV - I have picked up my armor, pitchfork, blowtorch, and 12 guage shotgun. I will fight the good battle with you!

greenwoodnursery:

I hope your nursery stock has fared OK. I am saddened to see the growing tips of all my plants flopping over, especially the ones laden with the new fruit of the season which will be lost before ever ripening.

On the other hand, it's a bunch of free pruning for those plants that survive it.

It must be a nightmare when you own a nursery.....

Ok, the film was fascinating, but they still totally creep me out. When I was in Florida it was all I could do to leave the house if I heard them. Eeeeeeew!

According to what we saw around here last year and everything I have read, the periodic cicadas can only cause serious damage or death to very young trees. They lay their eggs in the small tender branches and mature trees can withstand the loss of those branch tips. On young trees a large portion of the branches will be suitable for egg laying, hence much greater damage. I can see how this would be of great concern to nurseries. I didn't see any reports of serious damage in the news after our 17 year emergence last summer so I guess nurseries must have protected their stock somehow. I did see many trees with dead branch tips later last summer, but everything seems fine this year.

My son lives in the 17 year emergence area and the cicadas did cause a mess but he was so excited by the event that the mess was well worth it. The thickest areas were in the Forest Preserves. More trees + fewer buildings = billions of cicadas.

Full disclosure: My husband has a master's degree in entomology and years ago worked at the Field Museum on their insect collection. So, we and our kids find insects quite fascinating and the periodic cicadas are the most fascinating of all. I do, however, sympathize with those who live in the thick of an emergence. I'll admit to being grossed out by your descriptions of the unavoidable crunching underfoot. For all of you, I say, thank goodness it's only once every 13 or 17 years.

Now, the insect I despise is the mosquito... I can hardly work in my garden this year, the mosquitoes are so thick! I smell like bug spray most of the time. Help!

Definitely a bad year for skeeters. Those and the snail/slug masses made out quite well with the rainy spells we had at breeding time. I go around with polka dot skin! Not too cute...