Cicadas invade West Tennessee this year
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PINSON, Tenn. — Cicadas are emerging this year in West Tennessee in one of their loudest debuts since 2008. Some of these noise-making bugs that some residents are calling a “front-yard nuisance” are beginning to appear. This year we are expecting to see and hear the 13-year cycle of cicadas emerging from the ground, but there is little to fear concerning damage to our trees and landscaping. Jake Mallard with the UT Extension Office in Madison County said the insects will be heard. “The adults do not feed on foliage, so there is not much you have to worry about other than the noise factor from these insects,” he said. Pattie and James Cupples were a little concerned before they knew what the bugs were. “We was just afraid they was going to eat up our garden, flowers and crape myrtle bushes and all that,” Pattie Cupples said. Mallard said cicadas come out after soil temperatures four inches down reach 67 degrees and that they start to sing a week later. “Not much to be concerned about except the noise factor and if they get in and around and shed their skins all over your trees,” Mallard said. “Some people don’t like it so they’ll go out and clean up the skins on the trees.” The Cupples said they are cleaning up the shell mess these bugs left all over their driveway but that they are not too concerned. West Tennessee typically does not see these bugs annually. The last time was 2002, but when they come, they come in large waves. “We don’t get many annual cicadas,” Mallard said. “You will occasionally get a few popping up here and there. I think they’re just lost from their tribe. They’ve got out of sync with their years.” Experts say cicadas will live four to six weeks after they hatch. The good news is, after the summer, we should no longer hear their songs.
