Will Cicadas Harm My Vegetable and Flower Garden & What Do They Do to Trees?

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Let's cut right to the chase. The answer is no. Cicadas will not harm your vegetable and flower gardens. Unlike grasshoppers and locusts, they lack the mouth parts to chew plants. In fact, they are more like a mosquito and to keep it simple... have a long straw for a mouth that is used for sucking sap. They can't chew and they can't bite you.

The essential goal for the cicadas are to reproduce. Once you hear them, that is the time to consider covering your younger trees. Especially fruit trees. The video will show you examples of tree coverings and discuss how the female lays eggs in the tips of branches. Older trees can handle the damage but smaller trees can become damaged to the point they are severely weakened, die or become more susceptible to other insects and diseases. I recommend covering any fruit tree 5 feet tall or smaller.

The females will lay eggs in the tips of young branches. They cut a V shape into the branch and lay eggs. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed over a 5-6 week period. Eventually they fall to ground and move toward the tree roots. There life cycle revolves around trees for the most part. However, they may damage woody shrubs. The risk is much lower. After the cycle is over, I recommend inspecting your fruit trees and trimming off tips that have been damage. The damaged branches can be places for other insects and diseases to take hold.

Here is a link to may Amazon Storefront for the Tree Netting (Notice the Sizes Vary)

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