Apache Cicada Pest Profile

Common Name:
Apache Cicada

Scientific Name:
Diceroprocta apache

Order and Family:
Hemiptera, Cicadoidea

Description:
1 1/2-2″ (38-50 mm). chunky bodies with large, transparent, veined wings that fold over their backs and wide-set bulging eyes.

Food:
As larvae and nymphs they suck tree fluids from the roots of deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in the fall). Adults do not eat.

Life Cycle:
Five to ten days after mating, the female lands on twigs of deciduous trees, cuts slits in them, and lays her eggs in the slit. Shortly after mating, the male Cicada dies. The eggs hatch, producing tiny nymphs that fall to the ground. These nymphs burrow into the soil and feast on underground roots. They remain there for years, slowly growing, until their periodic cycle calls them to emerge again as adults.

Habitat:
Cicadas spend the bulk of their lives living in underground burrows, emerging in overlapping three to five year cycles in May to late June as nymphs. The nymphs climb up walls or trees and emerge as adults, leaving the cask skins of the nymphs clinging to the base of the walls or tree trunks.

Range:
Apache cicadas are native to the Las Vegas Valley and much of the Southwest.

Discussion:
Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called “timbals” on the sides of their abdomens. They fill the air with a cacophony of vibrating ribbed plates through August in order to attract females. The mating sound can be heard as far as 440 yards. Though large and somewhat ugly, cicadas do not bite and are not considered pests.