By Angela Hatton
Princeton, KY – A brood of 13-year periodical cicadas has emerged in western Kentucky. University of Kentucky Extension Office Etymologist Doug Johnson says Brood 19 spans from Muhlenberg to McCracken counties. The bugs don't pose a threat to people or animals, but they may damage trees. Johnson says periodical cicadas split open tree limbs to lay their eggs. That can cost a year's growth.
"That's the first type of damage they do. Once those eggs hatch, the nymphs drop straight to the ground, they burrow into the soil, and they go to the roots of those trees, and then they will be feeding on the roots of those trees for the next, what, twelve year and eleven months."
Johnson says most trees will weather the sap drain, but trees that need the extra fuel, like saplings and fruit-bearers could suffer major damage. The extension office encourages people to hold off planting new trees until after the adult cicadas finish their life cycle in late June.