Last year the annual Dog Day Cicadas, or another common name Locusts, began singing in the evenings around mid-July. This year the evening song started last week.

Folklore has it when the locusts start singing, fall is only six weeks away. Meteorological speaking, the folklore is right on target, with Sept. 1beginning the fall season. Astronomically, the first day of fall is Sept. 23.

Locusts, the insects that sing in the evenings, are not locusts at all; they are Annual Dog Day Cicadas. Dog Day Cicadas like my good friend the Groundhog, are often used to predict weather. So, is fall only six weeks away? Time will tell.

Cicadas are large insects that occur worldwide and are commonly recognized for their unique sound. While often referred to as “Locusts” in the United States, they bear no relation to true Locusts, which are Grasshoppers.

Did you know Cicadas are edible? Did you also know that Cicadas are related to shrimp? If you consume the cicada delicacy, be forewarned if you are allergic to shrimp; you will be allergic to cicadas! The Dog Day name is believed to be referenced from a bright star called Sirius, also known as the dog star. Sirius can be seen in the morning sky at the same time of year that the cicadas are projecting their mating calls.

Our annual Cicadas share several behavioral traits with Periodical Cicadas. The Nymphs of both types of Cicadas develop underground sustained by juices sucked from tree roots, and it takes multiple years for them to complete their development from eggs to new adults.

Periodical Cicadas are so named because it takes 17 or 13 years for new adults to appear in spring. Periodical Cicadas are spring insects, while annual Cicadas are summer insects. Like their Periodical familial cousins, Dog Day Cicada males also “sing” to attract females.

Dog Day Cicadas develop more quickly compared to Periodical Cicadas. It takes two to three years for the Nymphs to complete their development; however, some adults appear every year due to overlapping generations. The adults appear sporadically throughout the “Dog Days” of summer usually beginning in July. Both Periodical Cicadas and Dog Day Cicada females use their long, spade-like ovipositors or stingers to insert eggs through the bark of twigs and into the soft, white wood of trees. The resulting damage splits the bark leaving deep longitudinal furrows of ruptured tissue. The injury often causes the twig to die, the leaves to turn brown, with the dead twig hanging onto the tree. This is known as flagging. Eventually, the twig detaches and drops.

The appearance of our annual Dog Day Cicadas means their enemy, the Cicada killer wasp should soon be seen cruising woodlands and landscapes in search of their exclusive prey. Cicada killers feed exclusively on annual Dog Day Cicadas. The timing with annual Cicadas makes sense if you consider that the wasps would starve to death waiting 13 or 17 years for a Periodical Cicada meal.

The wasps measure 1 1/8 to 1 5/8 inches in length and are one of the largest wasps found in Ohio. As with all Hymenoptera or the family of Wasps, Bees, etc., only the females have stingers or ovipositors. These female Wasps, however, are not aggressive. The males are aggressive, but they lack stingers.

The females spend their time digging and provisioning burrows with paralyzed Cicada Prey. They prefer to dig their brood burrows in bare, well-drained soil that is exposed to full sunlight. Although the Wasps are considered solitary, all the females have the same nesting requirements. So, it is not unusual for there to be many burrows, and Wasps, in relatively small areas. The males spend their time setting up and defending territories that encompass multiple females.

They are notoriously defensive and will aggressively buzz any passerby who dares to enter their territory including other males as well as picnickers, golfers and gardeners. Fortunately, it is all a rouse since they lack the necessary equipment to deliver a sting.

Although the males cannot sting, their large size coupled with low-level flights over sand volleyball courts, and bare areas in landscapes can be annoying generating demands for control. However, insecticide applications to kill the killers is not recommended.

Cicada killers are considered beneficial insects and the females are not aggressive; stinging encounters are very rare. The best way to manage Cicada killers if they appear where they are not wanted is to change their habitat. Applying mulch to cover bare soil or raking mulch to disturb and redistribute possible burrowing sites will convince females to nest elsewhere. The same is true for golf course sand traps and sand volleyball courts: periodical raking will prevent the wasps from becoming established.

With September just around the corner enjoy the singing of the Dog Day Cicadas and the antics of the Cicada wasp killers.