Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Home Horticulture:
Environmentally Responsible
Gardening & Landscaping in the Low Desert
Cicadas in the Low Desert

DESCRIPTION:
Cicadas arise through 1/2 diameter holes in the ground in May to late June as odd-looking nymphs that have been feeding on the roots of trees and shrubs. The nymphs climb up walls or trees and emerge as adults, leaving the cask skins of the nymphs clinging to the base of the walls or tree trunks. The adults are approximately two inches long, with large wings that fold over their backs. Cicadas have chunky bodies and bulging eyes. They fill the air with a cacophony of vibrating ribbed plates through August. The male cicada may be the loudest insect known, the mating sound can be heard as far as 440 yards.
DAMAGE:
Symptoms: Prosopis (mesquite) branches die from the
tip back for 1 - 2 feet. Branches show bumps that look like tiny knife cuts. They are
regular in spacing and extend for a distance of 4 - 10 inches along the
branch. This is caused by the saw-like ovipositor of the female cicada
cutting a small slit in the tender branches and depositing her eggs in the
slits. The damage causes the branch tip to die and even fall off. When
the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground and burrow into the soil in
search of food.
MANAGEMENT:
No pest management for cicada damage is necessary. Rather, it should be
considered a natural pruning process that does not harm, and may actually be beneficial to, the tree.

To Gardening and Landscaping in Maricopa County, AZ
Cicadas in the Low Desert

visitors since June 9, 1998
Last Updated July 15, 1999
© 1997 The University of Arizona,
College of Agriculture,
Cooperative Extension,
in Maricopa County.
Comments to Lucy Bradley, BradleyL@ag.arizona.edu
4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85040, (602) 470-8086 ext. 323
http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/t-tips/bugs/cicada.htm