![]() There is even some evidence that the bodies of the nymphs can provide essential nutrients for tree growth in some environments, Abbot said. But they grow very slowly and so don’t have a visible impact on their hosts. In the years they live underground, the nymphs feed on sap that they drain from the tree’s roots. When the eggs hatch, the larvae drop to the ground below the tree where they burrow into the ground. If too many females pick a given branch it can cause leaves and twigs to brown, a condition called flagging. Generally, the females lay their eggs on the branches of mature trees that usually appear to survive the onslaught quite well. Unlike locusts, cicadas do very little damage to their environment. (Locusts are the only other insect species that congregates in such large biomass densities.) That translates to about 800 tons per square mile,” said Abbot. “Cicada populations have been measured at numbers as high as 1.5 million per acre. ![]() ![]() ![]() But for the five or six weeks when periodic cicadas emerge – like the brood that is currently making its 13-year appearance in Middle Tennessee – they are the most abundant herbivore in the broadleaf forests of North America in both number and biomass. Adult cicada from the 13-year brood currently emerging in Middle Tennessee (John Russell / Vanderbilt)Īccording to Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Patrick Abbot, cicadas play an important role in the ecosystem and there is a considerable amount of research being done to understand it better.Ĭicadas may be big and ugly, but they do not bite or sting. ![]()
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