Nothing to stop the cicada influx
Vanessa Kaspar
Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: News
Every 17 years, a periodical cicada emergence occurs in the Northern Illinois Brood of cicadas.
According to Doug Whitman, ISU biology professor, a cicada is an insect that lives most of its life underground sucking on tree roots. While some species stay underground for 17 years, some locusts, often confused with a cicada, come out every year in Bloomington-Normal.
While some mistakenly name a cicada and a locust as the same thing, that is not the case. A 17-year old locust does refer to the Northern Brood of cicadas that will be seen in Illinois every 17 years. A locust and a insect locust are two different things.
"A locust is one of the true bugs, like a grasshopper. A cicada is a bug that goes between a larva stage and it turns into what looks like a beetle looking thing. Cicadas and grasshoppers are different," Bill Perry, associate professor of biology, said.
"When the temperature gets warm, they crawl up onto a tree trunk and then molt. When they emerge, they will be a cicada with wings and leave their shell on the tree trunk. Then, they fly to the top of the trees, where males will call for the females. Females then fly to the males and mate. Then, they leave their eggs in branches. From the eggs, bables-nymps fall to the ground, burrow underground, and attach to a tree root," Whitman said.
Females lay their eggs on the inside of the tree branches, which can cause damage to the tree because females stick the eggs so deep that it makes holes in the branches, according to Perry.
Perry said people can expect to find lots of dead carcasses around the yard after they mate.
One way to keep the cicadas out of the trees is to put netting at the base of trees. However the nets may not actually be effective.
Whitman said there are plenty of things people can do with cicada, including being eaten raw or roasted.
When a cicada is touched they make the same buzzing noise as they do when they mate, according to Whitman.
He also said some make little helicopters by tying a thread around their waist.
By holding the other side of the thread the insects have no choice but to fly around like a toy helicopter, according to Whitman.
One can also grab a bunch of cicadas, put them down at the end of a roommate's bed between the sheets.
"It is urban wildlife. People should enjoy it. There is nothing they can do to stop it," Whitman said.
"I am not sure how bad it will be around Normal because there are not as many trees," Perry said. "They need well established trees, so there could be a fair number of cicadas on the Quad."
According to Doug Whitman, ISU biology professor, a cicada is an insect that lives most of its life underground sucking on tree roots. While some species stay underground for 17 years, some locusts, often confused with a cicada, come out every year in Bloomington-Normal.
While some mistakenly name a cicada and a locust as the same thing, that is not the case. A 17-year old locust does refer to the Northern Brood of cicadas that will be seen in Illinois every 17 years. A locust and a insect locust are two different things.
"A locust is one of the true bugs, like a grasshopper. A cicada is a bug that goes between a larva stage and it turns into what looks like a beetle looking thing. Cicadas and grasshoppers are different," Bill Perry, associate professor of biology, said.
"When the temperature gets warm, they crawl up onto a tree trunk and then molt. When they emerge, they will be a cicada with wings and leave their shell on the tree trunk. Then, they fly to the top of the trees, where males will call for the females. Females then fly to the males and mate. Then, they leave their eggs in branches. From the eggs, bables-nymps fall to the ground, burrow underground, and attach to a tree root," Whitman said.
Females lay their eggs on the inside of the tree branches, which can cause damage to the tree because females stick the eggs so deep that it makes holes in the branches, according to Perry.
Perry said people can expect to find lots of dead carcasses around the yard after they mate.
One way to keep the cicadas out of the trees is to put netting at the base of trees. However the nets may not actually be effective.
Whitman said there are plenty of things people can do with cicada, including being eaten raw or roasted.
When a cicada is touched they make the same buzzing noise as they do when they mate, according to Whitman.
He also said some make little helicopters by tying a thread around their waist.
By holding the other side of the thread the insects have no choice but to fly around like a toy helicopter, according to Whitman.
One can also grab a bunch of cicadas, put them down at the end of a roommate's bed between the sheets.
"It is urban wildlife. People should enjoy it. There is nothing they can do to stop it," Whitman said.
"I am not sure how bad it will be around Normal because there are not as many trees," Perry said. "They need well established trees, so there could be a fair number of cicadas on the Quad."
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