In the morning, the drone of the cicada chorus precedes the harmony of the songbirds. The loudest of the three species, Magicicada cassinii, is one of the smallest and is all black. Their harmless, feeding results in cicada pee dropping from trees on your head! The damaging part of their life cycle is the egg-laying, pruning work. If you have baby trees and you have singing cicadas, you will need to protect young twigs NOW! If you don’t have singing cicadas then you don’t have to do anything to protect your trees.
Joyce Browning Horticulturist, Master Gardener Coordinator Video credit: Bethany Evans Longwood Gardens Professional Gardener Program Alumni; CPH