Cicadas in your neighborhood ?

[aliasfinn]

Have you spotted any in your town ? The news keeps reporting people seeing bunches of them in my area, but I have yet to see any.
What I am seeing are plenty of wasps and bumble bees which doesn't come as a surprise since they put a price on my head for killing so many of them last year.

They have resorted to sneaky tactics. The other day I went to open my car door and felt something behind my door handle. A wasp who must have fallen asleep waiting for me fell to the ground. He never woke up, courtesy of my foot. Last week I came home and felt one behind the handle of my storm door, he was startled and flew away. Once I reached into my mailbox and had 2 crawling on my hand. Since then I have become extra careful getting my mail.

The only other insects I have encountered lately are those big ants. I noticed a bare circular spot in my back yard about 5 inches in diameter with a small hole the size of a pea in the center. I saw a couple ants pacing around it like sentries. I stomped on them and then went into my garage to work on my weed eater.

About 15 minutes later I came out and saw a line of ants carrying their dead into the hole, like a funeral procession. I sprayed Raid into the hole and covered it with dirt. I have not seen any ant activity since.

I would rather have the cicadas over what I do have.

[Kathy884]

Originally Posted by aliasfinn

Have you spotted any in your town ? The news keeps reporting people seeing bunches of them in my area, but I have yet to see any.
What I am seeing are plenty of wasps and bumble bees which doesn't come as a surprise since they put a price on my head for killing so many of them last year.

They have resorted to sneaky tactics. The other day I went to open my car door and felt something behind my door handle. A wasp who must have fallen asleep waiting for me fell to the ground. He never woke up, courtesy of my foot. Last week I came home and felt one behind the handle of my storm door, he was startled and flew away. Once I reached into my mailbox and had 2 crawling on my hand. Since then I have become extra careful getting my mail.

The only other insects I have encountered lately are those big ants. I noticed a bare circular spot in my back yard about 5 inches in diameter with a small hole the size of a pea in the center. I saw a couple ants pacing around it like sentries. I stomped on them and then went into my garage to work on my weed eater.

About 15 minutes later I came out and saw a line of ants carrying their dead into the hole, like a funeral procession. I sprayed Raid into the hole and covered it with dirt. I have not seen any ant activity since.

I would rather have the cicadas over what I do have.

OMG -- If you want to see cicadas, come over to the 63122 zip code or maybe my home in particular. My mail delivery carrier though tells me I am not alone and there are tons of other houses like mine in this zip code. That made me feel a little better. There are literally thousands and thousands of them all over my yard, large trees, and especially a large ash tree in my front yard.

And the really gross thing is that Ash tree is not that far away from one of my front doors and they are all over the welcome mat, on the door, on the posts of the overhang by the one door, and even on some of the brick on our house right near them. My other front door that is much father away from the large ash tree doesn't have any. They are all over my driveway which is right by the Ash tree. For what looks like my bug infested front door I sweep or water them off daily (like 1000 for more) and an hour later there are 100 or so back there. It's one thing to have them on trees, in mulch, and in the yard, and in the driveway but when they are on your door step and you have to step on them to get in and out of the house it feels kind of gross and although it's not the case it looks like your home is bug infested. I've used my other front door more these past few weeks than I have the 30 plus years I have lived in our home.

I made a mental note to myself to definitely if I ever want to sell my home, not to list it in the every 13 year timeframe month when the cicadas are here.

And joy, my son is getting married tomorrow (well the marriage part actually is a joy), but lol I have a gathering (luncheon) at my house with out of town relatives from four different states tomorrow before the wedding and reception which are in the 5-10 p.m. timeframe elsewhere (about 20 minutes from my house). Hey the luncheon will be fine, but the cicada timing is NOT what I would have preferred. I felt compelled to tell each of the extended family groups about the cicadas too so they will be a little less grossed out and surprised when they come over tomorrow.

[aliasfinn]

Originally Posted by Kathy884

OMG -- If you want to see cicadas, come over to the 63122 zip code or maybe my home in particular. My mail delivery carrier though tells me I am not alone and there are tons of other houses like mine in this zip code. That made me feel a little better. There are literally thousands and thousands of them all over my yard, large trees, and especially a large ash tree in my front yard.

And the really gross thing is that Ash tree is not that far away from one of my front doors and they are all over the welcome mat, on the door, on the posts of the overhang by the one door, and even on some of the brick on our house right near them. My other front door that is much father away from the large ash tree doesn't have any. They are all over my driveway which is right by the Ash tree. For what looks like my bug infested front door I sweep or water them off daily (like 1000 for more) and an hour later there are 100 or so back there. It's one thing to have them on trees, in mulch, and in the yard, and in the driveway but when they are on your door step and you have to step on them to get in and out of the house it feels kind of gross and although it's not the case it looks like your home is bug infested. I've used my other front door more these past few weeks than I have the 30 plus years I have lived in our home.

I made a mental note to myself to definitely if I ever want to sell my home, not to list it in the every 13 year timeframe month when the cicadas are here.

And joy, my son is getting married tomorrow (well the marriage part actually is a joy), but lol I have a gathering (luncheon) at my house with out of town relatives from four different states tomorrow before the wedding and reception which are in the 5-10 p.m. timeframe elsewhere (about 20 minutes from my house). Hey the luncheon will be fine, but the cicada timing is NOT what I would have preferred. I felt compelled to tell each of the extended family groups about the cicadas too so they will be a little less grossed out and surprised when they come over tomorrow.

There must be some reason they haven't showed up around my house, I know it's not the most appealing neighborhood but wasps like it, recluse spiders too.
I remember as a kid hearing that sound cicadas make and always thought it was coming from the telephone wires.
Then I finally saw one up close and thought it was the ugliest bug I ever saw. No wonder they don't appear very often.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by Kathy884

OMG -- If you want to see cicadas, come over to the 63122 zip code or maybe my home in particular. My mail delivery carrier though tells me I am not alone and there are tons of other houses like mine in this zip code. That made me feel a little better. There are literally thousands and thousands of them all over my yard, large trees, and especially a large ash tree in my front yard.

And the really gross thing is that Ash tree is not that far away from one of my front doors and they are all over the welcome mat, on the door, on the posts of the overhang by the one door, and even on some of the brick on our house right near them. My other front door that is much father away from the large ash tree doesn't have any. They are all over my driveway which is right by the Ash tree. For what looks like my bug infested front door I sweep or water them off daily (like 1000 for more) and an hour later there are 100 or so back there. It's one thing to have them on trees, in mulch, and in the yard, and in the driveway but when they are on your door step and you have to step on them to get in and out of the house it feels kind of gross and although it's not the case it looks like your home is bug infested. I've used my other front door more these past few weeks than I have the 30 plus years I have lived in our home.

I made a mental note to myself to definitely if I ever want to sell my home, not to list it in the every 13 year timeframe month when the cicadas are here.

And joy, my son is getting married tomorrow (well the marriage part actually is a joy), but lol I have a gathering (luncheon) at my house with out of town relatives from four different states tomorrow before the wedding and reception which are in the 5-10 p.m. timeframe elsewhere (about 20 minutes from my house). Hey the luncheon will be fine, but the cicada timing is NOT what I would have preferred. I felt compelled to tell each of the extended family groups about the cicadas too so they will be a little less grossed out and surprised when they come over tomorrow.

They are extremely loud in Kirkwood even in the middle of the day, I can personally attest to that.

[STLCityMike]

I (thankfully) have not heard them around my house (63104, north side of Lafayette Square). I can't recall where I was the other day, but I heard them then, so they are around the metro area, just not everywhere.

[SnazzyB]

I spent the weekend at our country place out by Sullivan. The noise was loud and constant, but I only saw one bug and one shell.

I live in St. Charles County and I'm not hearing the constant drone. I have seen one however...before the robin got it. LOL

[Okey Dokie]

KC area - nothing here.

[aliasfinn]

I was watching ch4 during the tornado warnings and the weatherman Steve Templeton was talking about debris that showed up on radar. He said it was probably cicadas that got sucked up into the wind.
I wonder where they ended up ?

[Kathy884]

Here is an update on the Cicadas at my house in the 63122. Now instead of 1000 or so at my front door, I am just getting about 30 or so at my front door each day after sweeping them away (way less). This is the front door that is quite near the big ash tree that is in my front yard. I still see a lot but way fewer than before. In the morning it is a perfectly nice buzzing sound of nature. This is good news for me as I walk for an hour each morning before work (a slow walk with my senior dog followed my a moderate exercise walk for me), and walking in the morning is still pleasant. At night I don't hear them at all. In the afternoon and early evening, though, they are so loud that it is not pleasant to be outside and they are keeping me inside. It's been that way for the last week or so. I checked noise level at the height of the noise and it was 90 decibels (checked that with a phone app). 90 decibels is the equivalent to a lawn mover or hair dryer and exposure to that more than four hours a week is enough they say to damage hearing. Inside my home, though, at the height it's just 50 decibels which is not an issue at all for working from home or being inside. They say 50 decibels is the equivalent of a quiet office.

I can't say I'll be unhappy to see them go.

With the strong winds, rain, and hail I did see 10 or so take cover under my porch overhang, a place I haven't usually seen them.