Mating takes place within a few weeks, and eggs are laid for the next brood. Each year, somewhere in the U.S. at least one of these broods emerges. But any one brood will emerge only once every 13 or 17 years, as the case may be. Contact your Extension office for information on broods and emergence in your area. The females prefer oak, hickory, apple, peach, and pear trees and grape vines for laying eggs.
Damage occurs when the females make slits in branches and twigs in which to deposit the eggs.
These small twigs and branches turn brown and die, sometimes breaking off. The damage may be severe in newly planted orchards or on new plants of shade trees or shrubs. Heavy populations of nymphs in the soil may also affect the growth and vigor of certain trees. You can prevent egg-laying damage by cicadas on young fruit and ornamental trees by covering the tree with a protective netting such as cheesecloth. Cover the tree, and tie the netting to the trunk below the lower branches.