Periodical Cicada
Big black insects with red eyes that come out by the thousands every 13 or 17 years. They do not eat leaves. The damage comes from females slitting pencil-thin twigs open to lay eggs.
Pest checklist
Four things to look for. If most of them match what you are holding, you are in the right place.
What gets rid of them
Gentlest option first. For most backyard cases the first one is enough, so try these in order and stop as soon as it works. If you do spray something, the product label tells you how — please read the notice further down.
1Net young trees
Throw fine netting or cheesecloth over small trees and tie it to the trunk below the lowest branch for the six weeks of egg laying.
tree netting cicada protectionTry this first2Delay planting that spring
In an emergence year, hold new trees in their pots and plant in fall or the following spring instead.
3Prune out the flagged tips
Cut off egg-laid twigs within four to six weeks so a young tree does not carry broken tips into its permanent shape.
4Leave mature trees alone
An established tree shrugs this off. No netting, no spray, nothing to do but wait it out.
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Which plants get periodical cicada
Every plant we cover that gets periodical cicada, grouped by type — tap any one to open its page. A note beside a plant came from that plant’s own entry, because the same pest can be a minor nuisance on one plant and a serious problem on another. Plenty of plants we do not cover get it too.
trees10
American Elm (Disease-Resistant)Ulmus americana
American SycamorePlatanus occidentalis
AppleMalus domestica
Eastern RedbudCercis canadensis
Flowering CrabappleMalus hybrids
Flowering DogwoodCornus florida
HawthornCrataegus viridis 'Winter King'
PeachPrunus persica
PearPyrus communis
Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
Plant families hit hardest
Related plants often share the same problems, so if one plant in a family has it, check the others. The largest group here is Rosaceae, with 5 of the 10 affected plants.
- Rosaceae5 plants
When to treat
Only in an emergence year, and only for small trees. Netting goes on when the males start singing and stays about six weeks. This is one where insecticide is not the answer; the numbers are simply too large.
Timing only — the label is the law
This page tells you when to watch for periodical cicada and when treating is worth considering. It is not a recommendation to apply any particular product. Read and follow the product label before you spray — under federal law the label is the legal instruction, and using a pesticide against it is illegal.
- Check the pre-harvest interval. Every product that’s cleared for an edible crop sets a minimum number of days between spraying and picking. Find it on the label before you spray anything you intend to eat.
- Check the re-entry interval before you or anyone else works in the treated area again, and use the protective equipment the label names.
- Confirm the product is registered for your crop in your state. This page groups many different crops together, and a product legal on one of them is not legal on all of them — state registrations differ too. Your state pesticide agency or local extension office can confirm both.
- Rates and mixing instructions come from the label, never from us. We don’t publish them because they differ by product and formulation.
Other problems on the same plants
If a plant gets periodical cicada, these are the problems it most often gets as well, so they are worth checking for while you are out there. They tend to appear together; one does not cause another.