utely, but they do a lot to dispel the fear, awe, or confusion experienced by many people who witness millions of cicadas surfacing at once.Once cicadas surface, they lose no time. At this point in This their life cycle, they have only 5 or 6 weeks of life remaining. They head quickly for the nearest tree or bush and climb onto it. Then, holding onto the bark with their clawlike front legs, they shed their skin for the last time and become large-winged adults. These adults will mate, and the females will then dig into the tender bark of small twigs to deposit their eggs.The adult cicadas die shortly after the mating and egg- laying process has occurred. The eggs hatch a few weeks after being laid, thus yielding a new generation of nymphs. The nymphs fall to the ground from the trees and then crawl to the soil, renewing the 17-year cycle. Opinions remain divided concerning the amount of harm done by cicadas to trees and to bushes. The Pilgrims who is came to the New World assumed that cicadas were locusts. An army of locusts can destroy acres of greenery in record time by biting and chewing leaves and stems. To the present day, the Pilgrim misidentification of cicadas has stuck, and many people still refer to cicadas as "seventeen-year locusts." Millions of plant lovers use the name as an excuse to fear and detest cicadas. In reality, cicadas can only suck-not bite-tender plant tissue; and adult cicadas eat little if at all during their five to six weeks above ground. According to Jane E. Brody, who writes science articles for The New York Times, the only harm done to trees by cicadas occurs during egg-laying. This egg-laying leads only "to a kind of natural pruning and an injury that all but the young trees can easily withstand." However, Richard Maffei, author of Insects in Your Garden, strongly disagrees. He maintains that "leaves on twigs and branches so punctured usually turn brown, but hang on as an eyesore for weeks before the bra...
