A GARDENING GENTLEMAN’S THOUGHTS ON THE CICADA…

A GARDENING GENTLEMAN’S THOUGHTS ON THE CICADA…

The upcoming mania about the awakening of the “Cicadoidea”, (or Cicada in the vulgar tongue), is a worthy concern for our gardening gentlemen.  To cut to the chase, Cicada’s feed on the sap of deciduous trees including their trunks, branches and roots but are altogether uninterested in coniferous plants.  Unlike other pests they are not focused on foliage, rather they suck xylem or sap from such trees as oak cypress, willow ash and maple, typically causing no harm whatsoever.  However, if you are cultivating young saplings and want to forego the whole /cicada initiation you might consider placing a light wire mesh frame over the saplings encompassing them from their crown to the ground and then sheathing it with a thin transparent mesh to allow for photosynthesis.  But know that eventually, as the tree matures, it will become defenseless against these insects as you will not be able to sheath a fully mature tree.  Cicadas visit us every 13 to 17 years depending upon the species,  so yours will be a long if not punctuated relationship with this most curious of organisms.  By the time the sapling has reached full maturity these Cicadas will be of no harm.  In the wild every deciduous organism would be compelled to undergo this crucible as one of nature’s fateful tests but in our gardens we have the ability to cheat nature in effect to maintain the artificial order of our beautiful domestic parterres.

Abandoned Exoskeleton Husks left by Cicada Newborn Nymphs before they burrow deep for the next 17 years

Over the next few months the presence of our returned visitors, the Cicadas, might attract predating insects and animals.  Many scientists believe that the strange 17 year cycle of these insects is largely designed to manage predation by other organisms, if so it is a truly ancient artifice.  Female Cicada’s will lay their eggs deep in the branches of deciduous trees using their proboscis, the same long, tube-like appendage used to draw sap.  When the eggs hatch the newly minted nymphs will fall to the ground where they must quickly burrow deep for the next 17 years.  It is at this time they are most vulnerable and most likely to become a meal.

Newborn Cicada Nymph escaping his exoskeleton

Other than superficial protection for young saplings there is really no other concern that a gentleman gardener should have with the Cicada.  There are many sustainable ways he might utilise them to his advantage such as composting the dry but protein rich husks left by these morphing organisms.  After the first weeks of the Cicada invasion these husks will be left lying around everywhere like dead automobiles in a junk yard.  An enterprising gentleman might spend a few hours’ online collecting recipes and attempt adding roasted, fried, grilled, or casseroled Cicada to his repertoire of cuisines.  But for my part, I have determined to catch all the Cicada I can so that I can feed them to my six, ever-hungry turtles aptly named; Rampage, Muse, Dingo, Rumble, Base and Carto…  respectively…

Holes left by burrowing Cicada Nymphs

Written by David Vollin