A phenomenon that happens only once every 17 years is about to take place in central and northern West Virginia this spring. The periodical cicada, also known as 17-year locusts, will emerge in mid to late May. This particular cicada emergence is referred to as Brood V and they made their last appearance in 1999.
These strange looking critters live underground for 16 ½ years feeding on small roots before crawling to the surface making their noisy presence known. The cicadas come out of the ground as nymphs and will crawl up tree trunks. Once they find a nice spot to stop they’ll shuck their exoskeleton and hatch out as winged adults.
Adult cicadas are around 1 ½ inches long with red eyes, black bodies and orange tinted wings. They almost look alien like to me. As adults they do not feed and live only a few weeks while reproduction takes place. You’ll definitely know when they emerge as the males make a high pitched shrill by pushing air through holes in their abdomens trying to attract a lady friend. They’ll get so loud sometimes it can start to get obnoxious with thousands of excited males squealing all at once. Despite their bad reputation these insects do not bite or sting and are completely harmless to humans, pets, and livestock. They can however cause damage to small fruit and ornamental trees.
The damage occurs when the female cicadas cut a series of paired slits in small twigs usually near the end of the branch. The female then uses its ovipositor, which is a needle like apparatus on the bottom of the abdomen, to deposit eggs into the slits made. These slits filled with eggs can eventually cause the tips of the branches to break and the leaves turn brown. “Flagging” is a term often used to describe tree damage.
The damage isn’t usually a serious problem on large trees, but it can be severe and adversely affect small ornamental or fruit trees. The eggs hatch in mid-summer and fall to the ground. The young cicadas are back in the nymph stage of the life cycle and will burrow into the ground to spend the next 16 ½ years. One way homeowners and orchardists can protect vulnerable trees is to cover them with cheesecloth, finely woven netting, or tobacco shade cloth. This prevents the females from being able to make their slits and lay their eggs. These insects have wings and can fly and will get your attention when they come buzzing by especially if one lands on you.
The Brood V emergence will take place in all of the central and northern counties of the state this year. The southern edge is in Nicholas, northern Fayette and Kanawha Counties. The western part of Tucker County will experience the upcoming invasion.
There is a yearly cicada that is present every year but not in the high numbers as the 17 year cicadas. The yearly cicadas are bigger in size and have black bodies with green coloring. They have black eyes instead of red ones.
As a fisherman, I’m excited about the cicada hatch. Every fish that has a mouth big enough will absolutely engorge themselves on the plentiful food source. I’ve already been tying up some big foam cicada looking flies in anticipation to seeing one being inhaled by a big fish. It can be some exciting fishing for sure.
Grab the ear plugs and get ready as the cicadas are coming. Better yet make sure to find some time in late May to get to your favorite place to fish as there will be a feeding frenzy. Or take your kids for a walk and let them collect the shed exoskeletons that will be all around. I always thought the cicada was a fascinating creature so I’m going to enjoy them while they last as it will be another 17 years before we see them again.
