What to expect from Cicada-pocalypse this summer

Well, with the eclipse in the rear view, let’s talk about cicada apocalypse. That is 2 separate broods of cicadas, one that emerges every thirteen years and another that emerges every 17 years, which are set to come out at the same time this summer, Something that hasn’t happened since 1803. So to help us better understand how this will impact Canada, let’s welcome Stephen Herd to the program. He is an honorary research professor in the Department of Biology at the University of New Brunswick. Stephen, thank you again for your time. Good morning. Good morning. So, you know, where is this actually set to happen? Will Canadians see any of these cicadas or or will it be contained to one particular area of the continent? Well, I guess the sad thing is that you won’t see it and I won’t see it. These cicadas, the ones that are emerging in in in the big event this summer are so-called periodical cicadas and those are found in the US. The 13 year brood you mentioned is in the Southeastern US, Southern Midwest and the 17 year one is in sort of Northern Illinois up to sort of Chicago area. And so unfortunately although we do have cicadas in Canada, we don’t have these periodical ones and we won’t see this particular event here. Bummer. Yeah, unfortunately for some, I guess, fortunate for others. But so they’re not migratory then? No, they’re not. They live a long life in one spot. They, the larvae, will spend years feeding underground on tree roots. And then the when they’re ready to emerge as adults, they’ll crawl up a tree trunk, as you just saw on screen and then spend the rest of their few weeks of life up in the canopy of the trees feeding. They really don’t go all that far. They can fly, but they’re not really great Flyers. And so they they’re pretty much home bodies and they certainly don’t migrate the way things like you don’t want our butterflies and so on do. So we’ll have to listen for our cicadas instead. OK. And I will ask you about that later on, But just curious too, will this have any impact agriculturally? You mentioned they feed on trees. Any other types of vegetation they they’ll fit on trees and shrubs of various kinds. There’s sometimes are some light impacts on things like tree fruits and orchards, but they don’t kill trees. They they they can stress them out a little bit, but they’re really not a a pest in any sense. They’re a huge benefit for things that feed on them. Birds, raccoons and skunks eat bears, things like that. They’ll be very happy this summer, so that’s a good thing. OK, a summer feast in in store for them. Let’s talk about the noise. You know, it is a a telltale, almost nostalgic sound of summer. But when we’re talking a trillion, I wonder what that will sound like. Well, it it’s a it’s a wonderful noise. And as you say, a summer noise. It’s that sort of whiny kind of drone you hear from the the trees. It can be quite loud. You won’t hear, you won’t hear the trillion all at once. So trillions are are sort of best guess at what they’ll be across the whole range of the cicadas. A particular spot, an acre might have a million, and that can be pretty loud. It’s not gonna, you know, break your ears, but you’re definitely gonna be hearing that it’s pretty spectacular, these these large numbers which which have in the periodical cicadas, because their strategy is to come out all at once and swamp out the things that might be predators on them. And so there’s so many, they’re all calling at once. And that call, of course, is to attract mates. And it’s just spectacular. OK. So let’s talk about the Canadian forecast. I harken back to the summer of 2021 or at least here in Central Canada, Southern Ontario. You know, you couldn’t really walk far without hearing a crunch under your foot because we had quite a bit here what what’s in store for us this summer. So our cicadas across Canada, we have cicadas in every province except Newfoundland but they are the non periodical cicadas. So there’ll be some every year and some years more than others. But they don’t have this spectacular every 17 year thing. So we should expect to hear cicadas in the the the height of summer you’ll hear them up in the trees. It’s it’s you’re almost lucky if you see a a live 1 because they spend so little time between their time underground and their time up in the canopy. So they’ll crawl up a tree trunk and and get to business up up top. So it’s kind of a nice treat to see in there as as as you saw on screen they’re pretty spectacular animals. This summer across Canada there’ll be cicadas almost everywhere. There’s deciduous trees and defeat on, but not again for me. Sadly, not the huge, spectacular numbers that they’ll be seeing in in the US. OK, well, I will take the ones that I saw as a sign of an auspicious summer and look forward to, I guess, what ones we might see this summer. Anything else people need to know. Anything to do, to prepare or or protect it. It sounds like they’re pretty harmless. They’re completely harmless. They don’t bite. If you’re really concerned about a fruit tree, you can drape a bit of netting over it. But really, there’s no need to do much at all. Except it’s worth learning a bit about them because they’re so spectacular. They’re so much fun to listen to and think about. If if you know what’s going on, it’s it’s just an amazing thing. So learn and enjoy. OK. Well, thank you so much. We have learned and we have enjoyed from you. That is Stephen Hurd, honorary research professor at the Department of Biology at the University of New Brunswick. Have a great day. Thanks again. Thanks, Candace. Goodbye.