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Source: wtop.com
WASHINGTON - They're loud, messy and neighborhood dogs love them. No, they're not relatives left over from the holidays. They're cicadas.
And, like relatives who only visit once and a while, they're coming this spring after a 17-year hiatus.
A cicada is a distant cousin of the locust.
After spending their entire lives underground, they burrow out, head to the tree tops to mate and then they die. The above-ground cycle of cicadas lasts less than four weeks.
But in that time they'll be annoying.
Not only are their mating calls really loud, dogs are known to pig out on them; and when their shells decay, they leave a stinky mess behind.
Their density can reach 1.5 million per acre, says Eric Day, manager of Virginia Tech's insect identification lab.
Female cicadas lay their eggs in slits in tree limbs. A single egg is laid in each slit. When the eggs hatch, nymphs fall on the ground and dig into the soil. They then attach to a tree root, living off the tree's nutrients.
Eventually, the nymphs tunnel out of the soil and crawl up nearby trees, where they shed their shells. The males vibrate their tymbals to attract females, and they mate. Then, the males die and the females lay their eggs before perishing.
The above-ground cycle lasts less than four weeks. The cicadas are expected to start appearing in May, with most gone before the end of the summer.
Male cicadas won't eat the leaves of trees. The females don't eat much, but they do damage small branches of trees when they lay their eggs.
"If you have shrubs or trees you want to plant, wait until the fall or next spring," says Debbie Dillion of the Loudoun County Extension Service.
Dillion suggests homeowners cover small trees with fine netting or cheesecloth.
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