Asheville, North Carolina

No, they are not locusts!

This year saw the emergenPeriodical ce of the Periodical "17 Year" Cicada adults here in the Asheville area. As with most insects, there is a lot of mis-information out there in the world. To start with they are not locusts! They are Cicadas, a very large family of insects found in temperate to tropical climates throughout the world. They have large bodies, large eyes and long well-veined wings. Most people are familiar with them because of their loud, often very distinctive, songs. In certain areas of the Southern Appalachians they are called "dry flies" because of the dry case they leave behind. They are completely harmless to humans and neither sting nor bite. The females lay their eggs in the tips of the twigs of many trees, most notably oaks and maples. The tips may break due to an excess of egg-laying (a female may lay up to 600 eggs in her lifetime) but this does not seems to have any lasting effect on the trees. After about 6-10 weeks in the tree limbs the eggs hatch and the nymphs drop from the trees and burrow into the ground. They then begin their long 13-17 year development.Cicada Pupa Shells

And yes, then it starts all over again. Whether you like it or not, this is one of nature's wonderful Cicada Damageexperiences.

All photos by Scott Dean