by Don Corrigan
The cicada invasion has begun. Those who remember the last onslaught of these creatures in 2011 are telling war stories. Others have been preparing nets to protect plant life, and buying muffs to protect their ears.
Erin Tate of Rock Hill is no greenhorn when it comes to the insects crawling up her trees, laying some eggs, crawling out of their shells, buzzing away in the sky and dive-bombing the neighborhood.
“I remember their emergence in 2011 and it was pretty freaky,” said Tate. “The noise that they made was insane. And they were flying around in your face, and down your neck, and behind your ears.
North American cicadas are among the world’s loudest insects. They can produce sound levels ranging from 80 to 120 decibels. The aural intensity varies depending on factors such as environmental conditions and the individual cicada’s behavior.
At a distance of 20 inches away, a buzzing cicada can be as loud as a chainsaw. A steady audio intake of cicada noise production has been known to cause some temporary hearing loss.
“I’m less concerned about the noise, but actually more focused on what the cicadas might do to my plants and trees,” said Rock Hill’s Tate.
Tate was found armed with tree netting on a recent afternoon by a roving Webster-Kirkwood Times’ photographer. Tate was wrapping the trunks of small trees near their roots with the netting.
“I have a real interest in native plants and trees,” declared Tate. “I have a tree near the native plants that is not in the best of health, and I am concerned about how the cicadas could affect it.
“The advice going around is to find ways to protect the trees and plants,” said Tate. “I’m applying netting to stop the female cicadas from crawling up the trees and laying their eggs on branches, which can cause damage.”
Cicada Tree Impacts
Cicada damage on trees and shrubs can result when they lay their eggs in small twigs about 3/16 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Cicada damage appears similar to a light pruning, but is not an issue for healthy, mature trees.
“I just don’t see a cicada apocalypse coming,” said David Gunn, who recently gave a tree presentation in Webster Groves for its Eco-Ed awareness series. Gunn is an arborist who served as a horticulturalist with Missouri Botanical Garden from 2012 to 2021.
“Cicadas are a concern, especially for young fruit trees. I think netting is fine for them,” said Gunn. “Young shoots and new branches can sustain cicada damage, but they will quickly be replaced.”
Gunn said some pruning might be necessary for slightly damaged trees, but he said cicadas are a net plus, because their remains leave nutrients that enter the soil and actually encourage tree growth.
“I was in Columbia in 2011 when they came out, and people were into it,” said Gunn. “Critters really liked them. The dogs, birds and squirrels were going crazy with easy meals all over the place. It was cicada heaven for them.”
Even humans got in on the act when it came to finding ways to make an incredible edible cicada dish. Gunn said new cicada recipes were shared. Some restaurants experimented with the high-protein cicadas/
At an ice-cream stand in Columbia known as Sparky’s, a batch of cicada soft serve sold out before it could even make the display case. However, the Boone County Health Department had some reservations about Sparky’s popular innovation and put the kibosh on it.
Finding Cicadas
If you’re in the hunt for a batch of cicadas for a hearty stew or a crunchy pie, you are living in the right place. Arborists say they will be most plentiful in the Meramec River Valley and can be harvested in quantity in southern Des Peres, west Kirkwood and Fenton.
Missouri’s favorite cicadas emerge every 13 or 17 years depending on the species. The leading theory on why cicadas emerge at such odd and synchronized intervals is predator avoidance. Emerging and reproducing all at once makes it difficult for predators to eat their large populations.
Prime time to harvest cicadas will be now until the first week of July. Females are best for consumption, because they are the fattest, juiciest and most delectable after just emerging from their shells.
The University of Maryland’s recipe book, “Cicada-licious: Cooking And Enjoying Periodical Cicadas” suggests that America’s waistlines would benefit from more bugs in the belly.
Insects such as cicadas are high in nutrition and require far less land area and feed than cattle and pigs. Their natural occurrence makes them more environmentally-friendly.
“Preparing and cooking cicadas? I don’t think so. I will be doing that,” said Erin Tate of Rock Hill. “I would consider eating some cicada ice cream.
“I’ve had ice cream and yogurt with a ground cricket topping,” said Tate. “It was pretty good. So, if I can enjoy crickets that way, why not cicadas?”
Environmental Echo 