hickory, honeylocust, dogwood, apple, and peach; however, many others such as 
sweetgum, elm, ash, yellow-poplar, walnut, sycamore, and redbud may also be 
heavily attacked. Adults are about 40 mm long. The female is completely black on 
top, but the male has 4 or 5 orange-brown abdominal segments on top. 
“SS 
F-532845, F-532846 
Figure 23.—The periodical cicada, Magicicada 
septendecim: A, adult; B, oviposition scars in white 
oak twig. 
The female uses a sawlike ovipositor to puncture the bark and make a pocket in 
the wood in which she deposits from 24 to 28 eggs in two rows. She may then 
proceed along the twig and repeat the process until she has deposited about 5 to 20 
batches of eggs. Sometimes the punctures are placed so close together that the 
wounds appear as a single slit up to 75 mm long (fig. 23B). When the eggs hatch, 
the nymphs fall and enter the ground where they feed on suitable roots. Usually 
they are found at depths of about 0.5 m beneath the surface. When they become full 
grown, they emerge to begin a new cycle, usually leaving the ground during the 
night. Emergence may begin as early as the last week of April in the South and as 
late as the last week in May in the North. 
A few days after the adults appear, the males begin drumming or singing. During 
outbreaks the sound is loud and incessant, literally deafening in wooded areas. The 
chorus begins at dawn and the volume increases as the temperature rises. It ceases 
at evening. 
Cicada adults cause no visible feeding damage. In contrast, the egg-laying habits 
of the female may cause serious damage, especially to young, transplanted trees in 
nurseries and orchards. Some damage also results to older trees. Damaged twigs 
wilt, and some break at damaged points. Methods of control are discussed (/220). 
Magicicada cassini (Fisher) also occurs in the Eastern United States. In Kansas, 
it is found mainly in streamside habitats in lowland forests. Tibicen canicularis 
(Harris) has been reported causing serious damage in white spruce plantations on 
poor sites in Quebec. 
75 
