3-26-2004 |
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CICADAS EXPECTED ONLY IN EASTERN PANHANDLE THIS YEAR The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) is reassuring the majority of West Virginia residents that they have nothing to worry about from the periodical Cicada this year, despite national media reports calling this "the year of the locust." "We are expecting to see an emergence in the Eastern Panhandle this spring, but the rest of the state should be free of the insects," said Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. "There is no need for stores or gardeners to stock up on pesticides; they’re not really a very effective means to deal with cicadas in any case." According to WVDA Forest Entomologist Sherri F. Hutchinson, three separate species of periodical cicadas will appear in mid-to-late May and June in Berkeley, Grant, Hardy, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan and Jefferson Counties. This brood was last seen in 1987. She also noted that cicadas are not locusts. "Locust is a misnomer for the periodical cicada, because true locusts are grasshoppers," said Hutchinson. "Cicadas are grouped into ‘broods’ based on the year the adults emerge from the ground. The adults live four-to-six weeks, and their sole purpose is to mate and lay eggs. The droning that you hear is the male mating call." The females cut slits in small twigs where they lay their eggs. The slits cause "flagging," or breakage, of the tips of the branches. Damaged areas can be pruned out the following winter. Small trees may be protected with a covering of cheesecloth. WVDA publishes a brochure on the periodical cicada with more information. To order, visit http://www.wvagriculture.org/available_pubs.html, phone 304-558-3708, or write to WVDA Communications Division, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. East, Charleston WV, 25305-0191.
Contact: Buddy Davidson The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org. |
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