[GrowRR] Cicadas

[Judith Robinson]

Thank you all......I guess my fears were one man's woody growth possibly being another man's bromeliad....or some such.....I'm starting to think it's a moot point here anyway as there have been no signs of any cicadas, not even the pre-emergence holes in the ground. I know they are only in certain areas....so I'll put them out this weekend, all 175 or so.....thank you again for your support......Judi

Matt Vanderpool <the_bug_boy at hotmail.com> wrote:what it amounts to is that the cicadas wiggle around in the soil as grubs 
munching on tree roots, lawn roots and the such. when they mature they will 
shed their skin and their adult winged form emerges....you know this 
already. what they do as adults is buzz, become very annoying and then 
mate. the females find a tree or other such WOODY GROWTH and used their 
specialized ovipositor (sexual organ for depositing eggs) to "sting" tender 
new growth tree branches. from the sting to the end of the limb, the branch 
dies and the branch eventually breaks out of tree and falls to the ground. 
as the branch decomposes, the eggs are released into the soil and the cycle 
starts again. to the best of my knowledge, any kind of "herbacious" plants 
such as brom's should be perfectly safe. typically there isn't enough depth 
to the leaves to hold an egg and the central part of the plant should be too 
difficult to get to. i may be wrong, but i can't imagine the little guys 
causing any harm. if you stop to think of it, these little buggers have, 
over the last several million years, adapted to dealing woody growth, and 
the recent introduction of brom collections into the upper latitudes, would 
probably just confuse the dickens out of them. anyhow, you may see a few 
cast off exoskeletons on some of your broms, but that doesn't mean that 
they've been stung. the stings themselves look like small 4mm slits cut 
straight through the bark of a branch and going into the wood underneath. a 
couple weeks after you start hearing the cicadas calling, start checking out 
the trees around your house. you'll start to see tufts of dead leaves. it 
shouldn't cause any real harm to mature trees, but i certainly wouldn't 
plant any new ones this year, the stress could kill them if they are stung 
too much. i hope this helps.

matt


>From: "Arthur, Brian, Sean Myers" 
>To: Judith Robinson , GrowRR at bsi.org
>Subject: Re: [GrowRR] Cicadas
>Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 17:24:48 -0400
>
>Hi judi,
>I have alot of orchids, bromeliads, and philos outside every year(we even 
>get alot of the standard cicada which breed the same), and i dont see any 
>problems. I really wouldnt worry about it.
>
>Sean
>
>Judith Robinson wrote:
>
>>Thanks for answering so quickly. I know they don't eat, but the females 
>>make a gash to lay their eggs, usually on young trees or shrubs. Am I 
>>being overly freaked out here, or what?.......Judi
>>
>>"Arthur, Brian, Sean Myers" wrote:
>>
>> Hi judi,
>> The 17 year cicadas dont eat. They only come out of the ground,
>> sing, mate, and die.
>>
>> Sean Myers
>>
>> Judith Robinson wrote:
>>
>>> As an avid bromeliad collector and a resident of New Jersey, I
>>> find that the two combine quite well. I put my collection outside
>>> every summer, under shade, where the plants thrive on our
>>> summertime humidity. However some areas of NJ will be hit this
>>> year by brood X, the 17 year cicadas. I've read that annuals and
>>> perennials will be fine; does anyone know about bromeliads? Am I
>>> asking for trouble?......Thanks, Judi Robinson
>>> 
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