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thearabicstudent

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
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?
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jake

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
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.
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IWannaFig

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Dont they eat anything green?
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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
I have never had problems, but never had a big swarm of them, they tend to go in big trees, basswood, lindens etc.
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musillid

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
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.
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Dale
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mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
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 !!

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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 

needaclone

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
YUCK!!!!  What is that green stuff on the plate next to the cicada brochettes and grub pâté!?!?!?
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javajunkie

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
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.
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Tami
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mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
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.
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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 
javajunkie

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Sorry I couldn't find a pic of one not being violated :)
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Tami
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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
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.
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Dale
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javajunkie

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
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.
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Tami
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thearabicstudent

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
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.
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springlakenj

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
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?
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John G. Spring Lake Hts, NJ Zone 7A

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
They are my favorite insect of all. 17+ years is a long time to live for a bug. 
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Jarrett
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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
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.
mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
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
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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 
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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
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. 
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pawpawbill

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
We had cicadas here 2 years ago. They did a lot of damage to peaches and plum, but the figs seemed untouched.


Bill
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mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
Figfinatic,
I was in San Diego once at Ocean Beach when the Grunion were running -- that was pretty cool.
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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 
Smaritza

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Posted Reply with quote  #21 
Quote:
Originally Posted by needaclone
YUCK!!!!  What is that green stuff on the plate next to the cicada brochettes and grub pâté!?!?!?


That made me literally laugh out loud!! Haha!
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Posted Reply with quote  #22 
i'm very tempted to catch some and stirfry them at cub scout camp out.. hmm.. candy coated cicada.
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mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #23 
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.
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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 
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Posted Reply with quote  #24 
like softshell crabs :)  i as thinking bit of bacon grease, and onion and mushroom.
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Pete
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"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
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.
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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 
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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
I have never noticed any bad, ill effects from [adult] cicadas before...
Birds love chasing them for food!

[Not sure of what any mischief the larvae/grubs may do while underground?]

Yes, they are noisy though; just p/o nature (serenading for love e.g., 'O sole mio:).
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George, NJ_z7a.
greenfig

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Posted Reply with quote  #27 
No vegetarians here, I reckon :)
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Suzy325

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Posted Reply with quote  #28 
The noise is annoying but c'est la vie. Kudos to those of you who eat them.......definite bug free diet here.
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tmc2009

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Posted Reply with quote  #29 
It took me awhile but I finally found some information that I heard recently that initially I could not believe.  The population can go from tens of thousands to 1.5 million per acre.  This year is suppose to be a pumper crop so I hope they don't like figs.  There are two cycles which they only have theories about and they occur every thirteen and every 17 years.  So after this you can relax for at least a decade.  We only have an occasional one in a tree during the summer.  I read that the sound they produce is 90 decibels which is pretty load.  It will also be a bumper crop for a food source so maybe the other critters will leave the figs alone.  The only problem is that means record litters of critters so there will be more mouths to feed later.
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Tom
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Posted Reply with quote  #30 
Uh boy - while the go-withs -read celery = good , cicadas in any way, shape or form , no matter how you disguise them , just doesn't sound appetizing to me !
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Fredfig

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Posted Reply with quote  #31 
I think , that the "latex" in our figs deters the females from depositing eggs in fig trees.
A few may be eager or confused , but I doubt if a big problem for us.
                                    Fred   7a   N.Car.
mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #32 
Fred,
That also what I was wondering as the last time we had the brood ll cicadas my fruit trees - especially apples - got hit but the few figs I had weren't touched. 

It's too bad the figs won't be ripe while the cicadas are fresh and good for munching on. Cicadas with a nice fig glaze  --hmmm.
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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 
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Posted Reply with quote  #33 
Cicadas to outnumber people 600 to 1

WASHINGTON (AP) - Any day now, billions of cicadas with bulging red eyes will crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground and overrun the East Coast. The insects will arrive in such numbers that people from North Carolina to Connecticut will be outnumbered roughly 600-to-1. Maybe more.
rcantor

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Posted Reply with quote  #34 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgginva


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 crap recipes. I wonder what Old Bay seasoning would do to them.


It's funny how far apart the "p" and "b" keys are from each other...
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Posted Reply with quote  #35 
OOOPs. I'll fix that for ya Bob.
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Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list:   Perretta, 
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Posted Reply with quote  #36 
Welp--I've gone and blown my supper after reading the post about someone finding a way to make human excrement into meat and now this--

Methinks I shall go buy some thick, wide sheets of visquine, staple that to the carport and porch posts and move all my fig trees inside, along with the little citrus trees and the banana tree, until I see if we are going to get the locusts, as well.

Is Louisiana supposed to sprout bugs, as well?

noss
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Posted Reply with quote  #37 
What a boon for the country's economy.  Just bag em' up and ship em' to the cicada-eatin' people and their countries who love these things.   
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