The Kansas City area is about to experience one of the great events in the insect world- the 17 year cicada emergence. You may have already noticed the exit tunnels in the ground. Perhaps you woke and went outside one morning to find them perched, by the hundreds, on your plants. Or you might have started seeing the exoskeletons everywhere. No matter how much you have or have not been aware of the emergence, you are about to hear it.
The adults emerge at night when the soil temperature exceeds 64 degrees Fahrenheit. They will climb on nearby vegetation and complete the final molt into adult form. Right after molting they will appear white and then shortly darken as their exoskeleton begins to harden. The process of a fully hardened exoskeleton can take 4-6 days in warm weather and longer if it's turns cooler. After the process is complete they begin adult behavior, including singing.
The adults live on woody vegetation. Mated females will slice into branches and lay a series of Y eggnests containing approximately 20 eggs per nest. She can lay up to 600 eggs. In 6-10 weeks the eggs will hatch and the nymphs will drop to the ground. They then burrow underground and find a root for feeding. They will continue to grow underground for the next 17 years. Sometimes damage from feeding and nesting adults can cause foliage to turn brown. This is called "flagging". It is caused by damage to the peripheral branches of a tree. Most trees , while unsightly, will survive this with no long term issues. Orchard trees and saplings planted in the year or two before a periodic emergence may be the exception to this rule if they sustain extensive damage.
Periodic cicadas differ from annual cicadas in both appearance and song. Songs also differ between species. The populations of periodic cicadas exceed those of annual species. They will number between tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands per acre. In some cases densities can reach 1.5 million per acre.
The hotter the temperature gets, the more the cicadas sing. Unlike their annual counterparts, periodic cicadas will sing during the heat of the day with levels that can reach 88 decibels. This only lasts a few weeks. The annual cicadas emerge in the second half of summer. The periodic cicada offspring from this year will emerge in 2032, during the next 17 year cicada event.
For more information or to report your cicada emergence go to www.magicicada.org
