Cicadas are poised to take over this summer.
Two different broods will emerge for the first time in over 200 years making for billions of cicadas in the U.S.
Eric Countryman with Davey Tree East Pittsburgh says it's hard to tell how hard our area will be hit
Every 17 years this one group’s come out and every 13 years another comes out and they are aligning,” said Countryman. “We also get annual cicadas every summer, they are not the same type of insects.”
With the two groups, there will be billions of cicadas. With that number of insects, they will be loud.
Countryman says there could be some minor tree damage from the cicadas
And that won’t be the only insect we’ll be dealing with. The spotted lanternfly is expected to be back in full force.
long with a double dose of cicadas, the spotted lanternfly is expected to be back in full force.
Right now, the only thing really stopping the lanternflies are humans, who are stopping on them or spraying them.
BactroBUG kills them instantly and doesn’t hurt plants and animals.
Even with squashing them and using the BactroBUG, it’s a losing battle against the lanternfly until the birds and other predators join in on the fight.
Without the help, the problem is expected to be even worse this year compared to 2023, with estimates of over 50 million spotted lanternflies next summer.
Lanternflies will start to hatch in April and will be full-grown adults by July.