Q: Hey Ace, I’ve been hearing lately that we’re going to get walloped this summer by this major cicada swarm. Is it true that we’re going to be besieged by insects? And are they dangerous?—Bugsy Malone
A: The summer’s bumper cicada crop certainly has people abuzz, Bugsy. But Ace put his ear to the ground for news on the burrowing insects and found out you have nothing to worry about—for now.
“It’s not true” that we’ll have a major cicada problem in our area, says Peter Warren, Charlottesville-based extension agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. “Not in this part of the State. But areas in Northern Virginia will get it pretty bad.” He adds that Washington, D.C., and Maryland will be up to their eyeballs in insects since they’re in the thick of (insert ominous chords here) Brood X.
Brood X—X as in 10—is what has put everyone’s panties in a bunch. It’s reportedly the batch of cicadas with the largest geographical spread, ranging from Tennessee in the west to New York in the north. It’s one of the 17-year-cycle groups of cicadas (they also come in the 13-year-cycle variety), which means that the buggies emerging this year went underground in 1987 and suckled on tree roots through the Bush, Clinton and Bush II presidencies. Luckily for them, they also missed the Spice Girls.
While we might be out of the major infestation area, Warren says to expect some cicadas this year. “We’ll probably have little pockets of them here in Albemarle,” he says.
Really, though, there’s nothing to worry about, even if you do happen to live in (more ominous chords) Brood X land. Cicadas are pretty harmless, save from that incredibly irritating “singing” the males do to attract their honeys. (Imagine “comedian” Gilbert Gottfried’s nasal whine cranked up to about 13.) According to the Virginia Cooperative Extension webpage, they aren’t poisonous and lack stingers. The only danger they pose is to young trees, which they inadvertently damage while laying their eggs. Well, they also keep you up all night by screeching or flying into your house. Apparently, being underground for a decade-plus leaves them pretty crappy fliers.
So media hype be damned, you’ve nothing to worry about from Brood X. Just wait until 2013, when the cicadas that buried themselves here in 1996 make their grand reappearance. Warren says they won’t be as big a deal as (one more time) Brood X, but they’ll cover most of Central Virginia. Nine years leaves you plenty of time to buy ear plugs, though.