Cicadas returning to Middle TN, Southern KY soon!

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Get ready! The 13-year cicadas are about to make a return to Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky over the next several weeks.

If you have not experienced them, it is unlike anything you have ever seen or heard. During the month of May, you can expect these big red-eyed bugs to be emerging, shedding their exoskeletons, and then eventually swarming.

‘Cicada-geddon’: Biggest bug emergence in centuries is coming

How many? How about one million, per acre?

So, how soon are they coming?

News 2’s Davis Nolan spoke with Dr. Midhula Gireesh, assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology at UT Institute of Agriculture to find out.

“They are expected to emerge when the soil temperature eight inches deep is about 64 degrees Fahrenheit, and that is going to be soon,” Gireesh explained. “You can see the exit holes that they make their exit holes, like tiny holes that you can see in your yard, closer to the trees.”

Gireesh said the soil temperature is now in the low 60s, so it won’t be long before you start seeing those tiny holes beneath the trees.

Periodical cicadas set to reemerge in Middle Tennessee this summer

Cicadas will be swarming a few weeks later, and the deafening noise they make is the males’ mating call. Once they mate, the females need to lay their eggs. That is when they target small tree limbs the size of a pencil or smaller and can cause damage.

“She makes slits and she tries to lay her eggs in there,” Gireesh pointed out. “So that is when the damage is evident, and small, very young trees, they might not withstand the damage.”

According to Gireesh, you should cover small trees and shrubs with an airy cloth, like cheesecloth, to keep the females from cutting those slits in the small limbs to lay their eggs.

The cicadas should be around through May into early June before dying off.

The eggs will hatch, and the young cicadas will bury themselves underground for another 13 years!

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