April 2024 - The Cicadas Are Coming! Don't Panic.

The entire Chicago District will face an invasion of periodical cicadas this year

This article appeared in the April 2024 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
To read more Chicago District Golfer stories, head to our article archive.

This year will mark the largest single emergence of periodical cicadas since 1803. Periodical cicadas, as distinguished by the less numerous annual dog-day cicadas, have the longest life cycle of any known insect. They spend almost their entire lives living underground, feeding on tree roots. Then, depending on the cicada species, they emerge every 13 or 17 years to reproduce. After reproducing, the adults die and the new larvae (nymphs) drop from tree branches to burrow underground and repeat the cycle. The entire time they are above ground only lasts from 4-6 weeks.

This year will be unique because two different broods of periodical cicadas will emerge at the same time in Illinois. They emerge together in broods, which are just a large group associated with a geographical location, every 13 or 17 years. 1) Brood XIX is the largest and emerges every 17 years. Also known as the Great Southern Brood, it covers most of the southeastern United States and a portion of the east coast. It will surface in southern and central Illinois. 2) Brood XIII or the Northern Illinois Brood surfaces every 13 years. It will appear in Chicago and northern Illinois, as well as parts of Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. Additionally, a 2028 group Brood XXIII, the Mississippi Valley Brood, may contain some cicadas that emerge in 2024, called stragglers. It will appear in far southern Illinois and a small portion of central Illinois.

Thus, the entire Chicago District will face an invasion of periodical cicadas this year. It is something that has never happened before. They will begin to emerge in the spring when soil temperatures reach 64 degrees, which equates to about late April/early May. Moreover, there will be a lot of them. In past years, there have been between 500,000 and 1,500,000 periodical cicadas per acre. They will be loud. As part of their mating activity, males emit a high-pitched buzz that can reach 100 decibels. They will finish their life span by late June or early July leaving the carcasses of the adults on the ground. The nymphs, products of the So, there will be a lot of periodical cicadas this spring. They will be noisy. But will they have a significant impact on golf course maintenance practices and course conditions? In a word, no.

Periodical cicadas should never be treated with insecticides because of their potentially harmful impact on the environment as a whole. They do not eat any plant materials as adults when they are above ground. They do not sting or bite. They have no known negative impact on turf health. As for the game of golf, they should not impact the height at which grass is cut nor should they dull mower blades. The net result is no additional equipment maintenance costs. As for the environment, they are a good source of food for birds and small animals. The decaying carcasses of dead adults represent free fertilizer – nutrients for plant growth. Some suggest that the emergence of the adults and the burrowing of the nymphs also provide positive soil aerification effects.

There are only two potential negative impacts on course maintenance. 1) They can harm young trees when female cicadas lay their eggs in tree branches. If concerned about young specimen trees, protection can be provided by loosely wrapping branches with cheesecloth or something similar. 2) Some golf course superintendents may choose to deploy their staff with leaf blowers to clear greens. But golfers should remember that the adults are winged insects and may repeatedly return to the green surfaces.

In short, the periodical cicada infestation of 2024 will be short-lived. It will be an annoyance due to the sound and the sheer number of emerging insects, but it should not impact the condition of courses in our area. For more information from the University of Illinois, scan the QR code below.

Sheldon L. Solow is a member of the CDGA Green - Education Committee. He has been affiliated with the CDGA since 1999, including serving as president from 2018–19. mating process, then burrow into the ground. There they quietly feed on tree roots until the next 13-year (2037) or 17- year (2041) cycle of emergence occurs.