Cicadas
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Cicadas
  • From: A*@aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:51:09 -0400 (EDT)
We have been told so much about the advent of the 17-year cicadas  that
it is a bit of a disappointment not to have them here.  At a State  Garden
Club meeting in Albany last week I heard from people across the state
that their occurrence is remarkable, but now I have had confirmation  from
the local Master Gardeners that they are not in Westchester County,
though there are plenty of them just across the Hudson in Rockland.
 
They put the blame on site destruction by bulldozers for new  construction
and pesticide use by lawn-care companies.  However, neither of  those
conditions exist on our hillside.  There has been no new construction  up
here in probably 50 years - we have been here for 43 - and we have  never
used pesticides on our so-called lawn.  I don't know about the  neighbors,
but no one has green lawns up here and few lawn-care companies  come
up.  The guy who does our plowing also does mowing in the summer,  but
nobody up here is big on pesticides. 
 
I'm wondering if our use of milky-spore disease to control Japanese  beetles
many years ago is responsible.  We used it, with good success, at  least
30 years ago.  It has not been available for quite a long time, but we  
still
don't have a problem with Japanese beetles. Since they come from a  grub
in the soil, and that's where the milky-spore was effective - we just put  
it
on the ground in the early spring - and it was supposed to spread - I  
wonder 
if it could also have infected the cicada grubs.  Any opinions?
 
Auralie

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