In a few days or a few weeks it seems the east coast from VA up to NY will be swarming with cicadas.  They've stayed under ground for 17 years and they're supposedly about to emerge.  Are they going to eat our trees?

YES! They only feed on fig trees. Not really. I was there 34 years ago when they did it. The noise they make is unbelivable. You can hear them when driving above the car and road noise. Good bass bait.

Dont they eat anything green?

I have never had problems, but never had a big swarm of them, they tend to go in big trees, basswood, lindens etc.

Cicadas don't eat anything when they emerge. They have no mouth parts. They live on stored energy until they mate and die. The damage comes from the female cutting into branch tips with an attachment to her ovipositor to insert eggs into the living plant tissue. The tip dies. The eggs hatch and fall to the ground, completing the cycle by munching on roots underground.

Worry about them? NO WAY!!! They are great eating.

Actually they may be very destructive as the females can kill branch tips as they split them open to lay eggs.

Fruit tree branches under 1 1/2 inches in diameter are very susceptible.
Branches and even main stems the size of a pencil are preferred.
A net with half inch holes will protect your figs. Otherwise you may see some damage.

I do not know if figs are targeted by cicadas. Other fruits certainly are. If you are in an area where Brood ll is going to arrive in huge numbers you should go online and do your homework.

Otherwise I doubt there will be too much of a problem. I am not sure what effect the sap figs have will effect the female cicadas and there isn't much on the web about it. So,

You should just eat them all !!

YUCK!!!!  What is that green stuff on the plate next to the cicada brochettes and grub pâté!?!?!?

We have Cicadas every year, I thought everyone did or is it just a huge outflux from underground that happens?

Okay I just went online and apparently there are different kinds of Cicadas. I was told ours are underground for 7 years but in the cycle we have some every year. I did a google image search because the ones on your plate don't look like the ones at my house. When I've been luck enough to come upon a dead one for close inspection it is rather irridescent and quite pretty for a bug.




 irridescent and quite pretty for a bug.

needaclone,
It's celery. What's the yuck about?

Tami,
This dish had deep fried cicadas so they were darkened by the sesame oil. If you boil in rice wine they don't get so dark. Nice pic.

Sorry I couldn't find a pic of one not being violated :)

There is a specie of cicada that comes out every year: Tibicen canicularis, commonly called "dog-day cicada". There is also the occasional off-phase periodic cicada. The Dog-Day is bigger and greener.

I just looked it up and that's not the one we get. Thank you for varifying I'm not imagining hearing Cicada's every year. They get pretty loud but I love it.

Yes, in the deep south there are always cicadas, but these are different.  They only come out once every 17 years and they come out in droves.

Yes, we get them every year also. They climb onto the screen door then molt, leaving their old "shell" behind.
This year is supposed to be bad- haven't heard any yet, unseasonably cold.

How do you cook them?

They are my favorite insect of all. 17+ years is a long time to live for a bug. 

Yes they come out here every 17 years and did not bother our fig trees,  we do get a few each season the odd ones .
Each season we see a few but nothing close to the numbers that come out every 17 years.

Last time they came out there were all around and loud what was fun to watch was the birds chasing in flight i suppose as din din.

Martin,
I've had a hard time finding info on figs and cicada damage, but the last time the brood ll cicadas came out they were hard on my fruit orchard. I only had a few figs and they were not badly damaged but the apples were hit hard.

I'm glad to hear they weren't targeting your figs. I really like the cicadas and after reading your post I feel better about my figs being OK.
I, too love to watch the birds chase them. A good buddy of mine had a pit bull that spent 6 weeks chasing and eating cicadas -- it was really fun to watch.

thx

That will be a sight to see...from a distance.  I'm glad I'm not on the east coast.  The weirdest thing that happened here on the west coast was one year it rained shrimp or so it seemed.   We had these things called "land shrimp."  I guess they emerged from the ground when it rained.   Never seen that before.   We also have millions of butterflies one other year.   I mean millions all over the place.  It was surreal. 

We had cicadas here 2 years ago. They did a lot of damage to peaches and plum, but the figs seemed untouched.


Bill
Middle TN

Figfinatic,
I was in San Diego once at Ocean Beach when the Grunion were running -- that was pretty cool.

i'm very tempted to catch some and stirfry them at cub scout camp out.. hmm.. candy coated cicada.

Pete,
If you can get them after they've come out of their shell but before they've dried -- mmm mmm mmm -- that's when they are at their best.
Stir fry in anise and sesame oil with some garlic. Oh baby! I can't wait.

like softshell crabs :)  i as thinking bit of bacon grease, and onion and mushroom.

Pete,
I worry that might over power the flavor of the cicadas, but I've never tried it so let me know.
I've also had them boiled in rice wine, etc.
They are pretty good all three ways I've had them so perhaps flexibility is the way to go.
Maybe cicada stuffing in a nice goose?

There's going to be a lot of free protein flying around my house in about 2 weeks.
I think I'll dig around and find my butterfly net.

But like I said before -- the best ones need to be picked as they can't fly. I think I'll look up soft shelled crab recipes. I wonder what Old Bay seasoning would do to them.