PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – If you walk the wooded path of Beechview’s Seldom Lakes Greenway, you will get the experience most people get here right now.
No show cicadas.
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There are good reasons for that. Despite the deluge of stories and pictures of the living things on the national news, the Brood-X cicadas do not appear here.
Oh, they are near!
As close as Mercer and Somerset Counties, but not in the Pittsburgh Metro Area (unless one or two are lost.)
It’s almost like we’re missing out as the cicadas get a lot of attention and make a lot of noise along the east coast to the midwest.
When they’re around, you’ll know when they sing their mating song by the millions.
“They are really harmless to us, aside from being annoying to some people, they are certainly mild,” says entomologist Dr. Chad Gore from Ehrlich Pest Control. “I think a lot of people are fascinated by cicadas because they are just an amazing natural phenomenon and we only see them every 17 years.”
This time, Brood X (pronounced “ten”) appears in the eastern states from North Carolina to the north, as well as in Texas, Ohio and Indiana. Central Pennsylvania also hears the love song of the cicada, as well as the aforementioned counties of Mercer and Somerset.
There are some other cicadas that are outside the 17 year cycle, but the 17 year old crowd is distinctive in their appearance.
“The periodic cicadas are those beautiful black cicadas with bright red eyes,” says Dr. Gore.
In many parts of the world, cicadas are becoming the main ingredient in apparently rare dishes.
“Well, I can’t say I have a favorite, I mean I’ve tried them before and they are a little mushy. I don’t know what to really equate it with, but it might be a little crazy, ”says Dr. Gore.
Dr. Gore recommends leaving cicadas alone, they will be gone within a month.
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What won’t be gone is the selection of other living things that have appeared or are emerging.
“We’re seeing an increase in bed bug calls. For me, that means that more people are traveling and taking bed bugs with them and passing them around, ”says Dr. Gore.
The fact that people have not been in their normal place for over a year leads to something equally creepy.
“We saw a lot of problems with American cockroaches, especially around the city and in the state. As a result of inactivity, of people, ”explains Dr. Gore.
At the moment the queens of the flying stingers are looking for nesting sites.
“The hornets tend to be quite aggressive, especially bald-faced hornets,” says Dr. Gore. “Yellow jackets, even when disturbed, tend to be quite aggressive.”
He suggests that you watch their flight pattern and try to figure out where they call home. If it is bees that nest underground, you will hear a sidewalk watch out. Just walking past could be seen as aggression and lead to an attack.
Dr. Gore says that when you spray a nest, only do so during the coolest part of the day, and keep in mind that most nests have a back exit.
Even when flying: “I was actually outside last night and was bitten by a few mosquitos.”
And back with a vengeance after the pandemic: “We are sure to see a lot of ants and the tick season never ends.”
When it comes to ants, Dr. Gore, you should think twice about unleashing the spray.
“You could kill those you see, but in general it does absolutely nothing for those in the colony. If you see ants in tow, you might only see 10% of what is actually there, ”he says.
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To get the colony, he sets up ant traps that cover their legs with a killer that they bring back to their nest and distribute to everyone in the colony, ending the problem.
