I recall back in 2021, Brood X, the largest brood of 17-year cicadas, made headlines in the Ohio River Valley area. Periodical cicadas appear every 13 or 17 years, and this is our year for Brood XIX - a 13-year group! The reason this year is notable though is because our neighbors to the north are also due. Brood XIII, a 17-year cicada group, plagues them at almost the same time we’re experiencing Brood XIX. According to the cicada-mapping website ‘cicadasafari.org’, the last time both broods emerged simultaneously was 221 years ago! Pretty notable.

Though our state sees cicadas each and every year, these broods receive more attention because of the intrigue in their long life cycle. Nymphs spend either 13 or 17 years underground and survive by feeding on plant and tree roots. Gardeners may start to notice small, pinky finger sized holes in the ground as nymphs emerge. Dr. Gene Kritsky, Professor Emeritus of Biology at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, says these holes will appear under trees and not in open areas. He further explains, nymphs then crawl up a vertical surface to shed their skins [photo], and they’ll continue to mature in the tops of the trees, but don’t start vocalizations then for about five days.

Some gardeners are fearful of their emergence this summer. Metro Atlanta didn’t see them nearly as bad as Nashville, middle Georgia and other places in the Southeast. The Home & Garden Information Center at Clemson University assures us that this feeding overtime doesn’t seem to be detrimental to tree health. My advice- plant as you normally would this season. However, spring planted saplings could be susceptible to injury by cicadas during oviposition, the period where the female lays eggs in stems and branches. Dr. Kritsky warns that in the areas with the highest surge of cicadas, the females could potentially lay eggs in every branch of a young tree, which would kill the tree.

Entomologists ask that you not use pesticides to deter cicadas. They are not harmful to humans and aren’t even around for that long. Nature has a way of keeping them in check, by way of the cicada killer wasp and a parasitic fungus.

Cicada killer wasps will be happy as a bunny in a salad bar, given the huge menu out there this summer! The holes in which they bury the cicadas they kill are dug in looser soil, and we won’t see these holes until perhaps July. A fascinating aspect of this adversarial relationship between cicadas and cicada killer wasps is how the wasps become a bit overwhelmed during these population booms. Dr. Kritsky says, “Coming out in such large numbers is part of the cicadas’ strategy for survival. They literally satiate their predators, to where the predators can’t eat anymore.”

Cicada killer wasps enjoy feeding cicadas to their young, but what do cicadas taste like to us? I had to ask Dr. Kritsky, manager of the website ‘cicadasafari.org’. His response- “I haven’t eaten one in 30 years, but it’s a very ‘green’ flavor.” He likens the taste to canned asparagus liquid. That’s pretty relatable!

While the sounds, the swarms, and the thought of the taste of cicadas may be alarming to some, don’t buy into the hype that this phenomenon is something to get stressed about. Sit back and enjoy the show this summer!

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