Brood X will emerge in 2021, and people will want to travel to see and hear them. Should you decide to travel to witness Brood X or any cicada emergence in the U.S., be cautious and considerate of the following:
Be respectful of private property
Periodical cicadas thrive in neighborhoods and campuses with old hardwood trees and grass lawns, as you’ll find in places like Princeton, New Jersey. Don’t traipse and trample onto private property without permission and always visit local parks, instead of neighborhoods, when possible.
Observe local laws and customs
This should go without saying: obey local laws. Do not: litter, trespass, speed, j-walk, etc. Don’t give cicada fans a bad name.
Be prepared to practice social distancing and to wear a mask, even if just as a courtesy. I noticed that even outdoors in public parks, people in New Jersey wear masks.
Do not bring Spotted Lanternflies home with you
Spotted Lanternflies are true bugs, just like cicadas, but they are very, very destructive pests and an “invasive species”. Like the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture website says, they “cause serious damage including oozing sap, wilting, leaf curling, and dieback in trees, vines, crops and many other types of plants”! They kill the trees cicadas call home.
Pennsylvania and western New Jersey are loaded with Spotted Lanternflies, so if you travel to those states to see Brood X cicadas, make sure you check your vehicle and belongings for Lanternfly hitchhikers. Don’t bring them home with you. At this time of year, I believe they are still in their black phase.
This sign is downloadable from the USDA website.
And squash them all — for the good of the forest and cicadas.
More info at the USDA website.
Protect yourself from ticks
Long Island (NY), New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and nearby states are loaded with Lyme Disease carrying Blacklegged/Deer Ticks. I’ve known people who have Lyme Disease and it practically ruined their lives. Unfortunately, ticks are found in the same areas as cicadas, like parks, yards, and forests. The CDC website has tips for preventing tick bites on people that I highly recommend you read and follow their tips. I personally wear pyrethrum-treated clothes when outdoors in New Jersey.
From the CSC.gov website:
FYI, spotted lanternfly is also in the top of Virginia (Clarke, Warren, Page and Frederick counties – all but Page are under quarantine), as well as other areas in the Brood X territory. https://www.stopslf.org/where-is-slf/slf-map/
Thank you for making folks aware of this new invasion!
I have an empty 10 gallon aquarium with a screen lid and was thinking of bringing a few nymphs indoors to moult. Is it safe and will they live longer indoors? I have heard that the adults don’t eat but can I water them? I live in Catonsville, MD zip 21228
They need a vertical surface or something to hang from when they molt. It can’t be a horizontal surface. So if you can rig something that’s like a small tree, that might work. To keep them refreshed, I take a maple or oak branch and put it in a floral water tube, and put it in the enclosure with them.