Cicada season: Do they bite? Could they pee on you?
ST. LOUIS (KTVI) — As cicada season goes full force in many places across the U.S., there are some odd questions people may wish to know about how they impact our daily lives.
Theoretically speaking, let's say a cicada lands on you: Could it bite you? Could it pee on you?
As gross as both of those possibilities sound, we'll preface those questions by noting that there's not much harm associated with either scenario. Based on research and expert accounts, here's what Nexstar's KTVI has learned.
Could a cicada bite you?
Short answer: Technically, no.
While cicadas have piercing mouthparts, they are specialized for feeding on trees, according to SLU associate professor Dr. Kasey Fowler-Finn, Ph.D. Cicadas use their mouthparts to suck on fluids from trees.
However, if a cicada makes contact with a human's skin for an extended period of time, there is a chance it could mistake the skin for a tree part, according to Orkin Pest Control Company. If the cicada tries to penetrate your skin, you may feel a mild, prickly sensation that resembles a bite. Generally, the sensation is short-lived, and it's unlikely to cause irritation like mosquito bites.
Cicadas also lack stingers, so they are unable to sting humans as well.
Could a cicada pee on you?
Short answer: Yes.
Cicadas feed on plant parts that are high in water content. As a result, they eliminate waste in the form of urine. According to the New York Times, cicadas can drink 300 times their weight in plant sap on any given day and pee up to 10 feet of fluid per second.
Cicadas also release a fluid known as "honeydew" and can pee up to three times stronger and faster than humans, Associated Press explains. It's sticky but not toxic in nature.
Sure, if you're in contact with a cicada or situated near bundles of them, they may squirt some urine on you (possibly in droplets). If this happens and you need to clean up the mess, a simple mixture of water and soap should do the trick.
All things considered, it may be annoying for humans to deal with a a bite-like sensation and urine from cicadas, but experts say both situations are harmless long-term.
Cicada season
There are generally two kinds of cicadas that emerge each year — annual ones, which come out every year, and the periodical cicadas, which emerge every 13 or 17 years to mate, explains the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
With this in mind, it's plausible for one area of a state to be seeing 13-year cicadas come out while another is seeing cicadas that have been underground for 17 years.
All-in-all, cicadas will be active above ground for about eight weeks, says the EPA. Then, nymphs will hatch from eggs (most likely laid on twigs and brush) in about six weeks before heading underground for their waiting period.