I’m looking for info on the relationship between Cicadas (particularly in the eastern United States) and oak trees. Specifically an estimate on how many nymphs a single tree can support over a given year, or in the case of magicicada, 17 years. Went to a lecture several years ago by an entomologist…

[image] jhousephotos: an entomologist who’s name I’ve since forgotten Might this person have been Doug Tallamy? He’s made lots of great stuff about the relationships between insects and native plants.

I do believe that’s him, yes!

He also wrote a book entirely about the importance of native oak trees. Maybe some of the answers you’re looking for is in there.

If you were to determine the area of the drip zone of a large tree (subtracting the area of the trunk’s diameter) and multiply it by the emergence density, that would give you an idea of the number of Magicicada nymphs supported by that tree. Measuring the emergence density under a given tree can be…

[image] WeeCorbie: Additionally, the hatch rate of cicada eggs laid in oak twigs is among the highest measured, at around 50%. How does one measure this?

Twigs with cicada oviposition can be collected and carefully dissected to remove the eggs. Hatched eggs are transparent, while unhatched eggs will be opaque ivory or brownish, so it’s simple to count hatched vs. unhatched eggs and determine hatch rate/egg mortality. Live twigs should be sampled for …

How many cicadas can an oak tree support?

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How many cicadas can an oak tree support?

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