Cicadas emerge in massive numbers during their breeding cycles, covering trees, lawns, and outdoor spaces with their loud buzzing and discarded shells. If you’ve noticed these insects around your property, you’re probably wondering whether they pose any real threat to your family, pets, plants, or home.
This guide explains what risks cicadas actually present, how they affect your garden and outdoor living areas, and what practical steps you can take to protect vulnerable plants and manage their presence during emergence years.
Are Cicadas Dangerous to Humans and Pets?
Cicadas are not dangerous to humans or pets. They do not bite, sting, or carry diseases, and they lack the physical structures needed to harm people or animals. While their large size and loud presence can be startling, cicadas are harmless insects that pose no health risk to your household.
Why Cicadas Don’t Bite or Sting
Cicadas have a specialized mouthpart called a proboscis designed only for piercing plant tissue and drinking sap. This feeding structure cannot penetrate human or animal skin, making bites physically impossible.
Unlike wasps, bees, or hornets, cicadas have no stingers or venom. They rely entirely on camouflage and their ability to flee rather than defensive weapons.
What Happens If a Cicada Lands on You
Cicadas are clumsy fliers and may accidentally land on people, pets, or outdoor furniture. If one lands on you, simply brush it off gently or wait for it to fly away on its own.
The insect may feel scratchy due to its small leg claws used for gripping tree bark, but this causes no injury. Cicadas do not behave aggressively and will not pursue or attack humans.
Are Cicadas Safe Around Children and Pets?
Cicadas present no toxic threat to children who touch them or pets that investigate them outdoors. The insects produce no harmful substances and their bodies contain no toxins.
Dogs and cats sometimes eat cicadas out of curiosity. Consuming a few cicadas typically causes no harm, though eating large quantities may lead to mild digestive upset, vomiting, or stomach discomfort due to the hard exoskeleton. Monitor pets during heavy cicada emergences and discourage excessive consumption, but a few eaten insects rarely require veterinary care.
Do Cicadas Damage Gardens and Landscaping?
Adult cicadas cause minimal direct damage to established gardens, but their egg-laying behavior can harm young trees and newly planted shrubs. Understanding their impact helps you protect vulnerable plants during emergence years.
How Cicadas Affect Mature Trees and Shrubs
Established trees and shrubs with thick bark and strong branch structure tolerate cicada activity well. Adult cicadas feed on sap from mature branches, but their feeding rarely causes noticeable harm to healthy, well-established woody plants.
Large trees typically show no lasting effects from cicada presence. The temporary sap loss represents a minor stress that healthy specimens easily overcome once the insects complete their life cycle.
Egg-Laying Damage to Young Trees
Female cicadas lay eggs by cutting slits into small branches and twigs, a process called oviposition. Branches with pencil-thickness diameter or smaller are most vulnerable to this egg-laying activity.
The slits weaken branch structure and often cause the tips to wilt, brown, and die back. This damage, called flagging, appears as brown, drooping branch ends scattered throughout the tree canopy and can affect the shape and growth of young trees.
Which Plants Need Protection
Protect these vulnerable plants during heavy cicada emergences:
- Trees and shrubs planted within the last three years
- Young fruit trees and ornamental specimens under six feet tall
- Nursery stock and landscape plants still establishing root systems
- Plants with naturally thin branches, such as young maples, oaks, dogwoods, and fruit trees
Mature perennials, annuals, vegetables, and ground covers face minimal risk. Cicadas prefer woody plants for egg-laying and ignore herbaceous garden plants almost entirely.
How to Protect Young Trees from Cicadas
Cover vulnerable young trees with lightweight netting before adult cicadas emerge. Use netting with mesh size of one-quarter inch or smaller to prevent cicadas from reaching branches while still allowing light, air, and water through.
Drape the netting over the entire canopy and secure it around the trunk base with twine or zip ties. Remove the netting after six to eight weeks, once the adult cicada activity ends and egg-laying is complete.
Avoid pesticide applications. Cicadas emerge in such large numbers that spraying proves ineffective and unnecessarily harms beneficial insects, pollinators, and the surrounding environment.
Managing Flagging Damage After Emergence
Prune dead or damaged branch tips after cicadas complete their life cycle and leave the area. Make clean cuts just above a healthy bud or lateral branch to encourage proper healing.
Most young trees recover fully from cicada damage within one growing season. Provide consistent watering and avoid other stressors like drought, excessive fertilization, or additional pruning while the tree redirects energy to new growth.
Do Cicadas Harm Lawns and Outdoor Spaces?
Cicadas do not damage lawns directly, but their emergence and life cycle create temporary cosmetic issues in outdoor living areas. These effects are short-lived and require minimal intervention.
Emergence Holes in Your Yard
Cicada nymphs create half-inch diameter exit holes in the soil when they emerge from underground. Lawns and garden beds may show dozens or even hundreds of these holes during heavy emergence years.
The holes do not harm your lawn’s health and will gradually fill in through natural soil settling and grass growth. You can lightly rake the area or top-dress with compost to speed the process, but no treatment is necessary.
Discarded Shells on Trees, Siding, and Furniture
After emerging, nymphs climb vertical surfaces and molt, leaving behind brown exoskeletons. These empty shells cling to tree bark, home siding, deck posts, patio furniture, and outdoor fixtures.
Brush or hose off the shells as they accumulate. They cause no damage but may be unsightly on outdoor living spaces during the weeks following emergence.
Noise and Disruption to Outdoor Activities
Male cicadas produce loud mating calls that can exceed 90 decibels in areas with dense populations. The buzzing chorus occurs primarily during daylight hours and peaks in late morning and afternoon.
The noise is temporary, lasting four to six weeks during the mating period. Plan outdoor gatherings, gardening work, or quiet outdoor activities for early morning or evening hours when cicadas are less active, or wait until the emergence cycle completes.
Dealing With Dead Cicadas in Your Yard
Adult cicadas live only four to six weeks after emerging. As they die, their bodies accumulate on lawns, patios, driveways, and around the base of trees.
Dead cicadas decompose quickly and add nitrogen and other nutrients back into the soil. You can leave them in garden beds and natural areas to break down naturally, improving soil quality as they decay.
Cleaning Up Around Outdoor Living Areas
Rake or sweep dead cicadas from patios, decks, walkways, and other hardscaped areas where accumulation becomes unsightly or creates slippery surfaces. Add the collected bodies to compost piles or spread them in garden beds as a natural fertilizer source.
Hose down outdoor furniture, umbrellas, and cushion storage areas where dead insects gather. The cleanup process requires minimal effort and lasts only a few weeks.
Understanding Cicada Emergence Cycles
Knowing when cicadas emerge in your area helps you prepare your landscape and plan garden projects around their presence. Two types of cicadas appear in home landscapes with different timing patterns.
Annual Cicadas
Annual cicadas, also called dog-day cicadas, appear every summer in smaller numbers. These species complete life cycles of two to five years but emerge at different times, so some adults appear each year.
Annual cicadas create background summer noise but rarely reach population levels that cause noticeable landscape impact. They require no special preparation or protective measures.
Periodical Cicadas
Periodical cicadas emerge in massive synchronized populations every 13 or 17 years, depending on the species. These emergence events, called broods, can produce millions of insects per acre in affected regions.
Check local extension service resources or state agriculture department information to learn whether your area will experience a periodical cicada emergence. Advance knowledge allows you to delay planting young trees or prepare netting before adults emerge.
When to Call a Professional
Cicada management rarely requires professional help. Most homeowners can protect vulnerable plants and manage the temporary inconvenience without outside assistance.
Consult a certified arborist if young trees suffer extensive flagging damage that affects more than 30 percent of the canopy or if you’re uncertain about proper pruning techniques. Professional assessment helps determine whether affected trees will recover or need additional care.
Long-Term Landscape Planning Around Cicadas
If you live in an area affected by periodical cicadas, time major landscape installations around emergence cycles when possible. Plant young trees, shrubs, and ornamental specimens in the year following an emergence rather than the year before.
This strategy gives new plants time to establish strong root systems and branch structure before the next cycle. Mature, established plants tolerate cicada activity far better than newly planted specimens.
Cicadas present minimal danger to your home, garden, or family. They create temporary noise and cosmetic issues but cause no health risks and limited landscape damage when you protect young trees appropriately. By understanding their behavior and short life cycle, you can manage their presence calmly and maintain your outdoor spaces with simple, practical steps during emergence years.
Continue learning practical ways to care for your home and landscape by exploring more helpful Home and Garden articles that guide you through seasonal challenges and outdoor projects.