Community Corner

Have You Seen This Bug?

UGA entomologist asks for help tracking periodic cicadas.

It has been 13 years since periodic cicadas last emerged in Georgia.

Brood XIX is expected to emerge through June. Within a couple of months, the cicadas will emerge, mate, lay eggs and die. Once the last of the brood dies, the periodic cicadas will not be seen again until 2024.

University of Georgia entomologists are asking for the public’s help in tracking these infrequently seen insects. UGA has requested citizens take photos of cicadas and shed cicada skins and send them toΒ Insects@uga.edu. Researchers also ask that submissions include the date and location where the cicada or cicada skin was photographed.

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Periodic cicadas are approximately an inch and a half long. They emerge in the spring and have bright red eyes with orange-veined wings. Once they emerge from the ground, cicada nymphs crawl up trees, shed their skins and fly to treetops where the males call for mates. The females respond to the mating calls of the male cicadas with wing clicks.

These cicadas are not locusts and are not considered pests. Cicadas sip plant sap and do not damage plants according to a University of Georgia press release. However, female cicadas lay eggs in slits in twig tips. This can cause the end of the branch to die.

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The cicadas that emerge this year actually hatched from eggs laid 13 years ago. The shells found on trees are the shed skins of nymphs that have been underground for more than a decade. As the nymphs emerge from the ground, they create little mud chimneys. The nymphs emerge at night, climb up tree trunks or other objects, split their skin and emerge as adults.

While underground, nymphs feed off tree roots. For this reason, cicadas are most likely to be found in areas that have had hardwood trees for at least 13 years. The highest numbers will likely be found in mature hardwood forests.


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