Do Cicadas Damage Trees?
Cicadas do not damage trees in the way leaf-chewing insects do, but they can stress young and newly planted trees when they appear in large numbers. The main problem is not that they eat leaves or bark, it is that females cut slits into small branches to lay eggs, which can weaken twigs and cause tip dieback. If you are seeing a cicada tree covered with insects, the risk depends far more on the tree’s age and size than on the number of cicadas alone.
What Cicadas Do to Trees
Cicadas do not eat trees. Adult cicadas use their needle-like mouthparts to sip plant fluids from stems and branches, and they spend far more time mating, singing, and laying eggs than feeding. The feeding itself rarely harms healthy mature trees.
Egg laying is the real source of injury
Female cicadas make slit-shaped cuts in pencil-sized twigs and lay eggs inside them. Those twig tips can turn brown, wilt, and break, which is why people notice fresh damage after an emergence. The injury is visible, but it is concentrated in small branch tips, not in the trunk or main limbs.
Why mature trees usually recover
Large trees have enough leaf and branch mass to absorb the loss of some twig tips. Oaks, maples, hickories, fruit trees, and ornamentals can handle a wave of cicadas if they are established and healthy. The tree replaces lost growth the next season. That is why the question is less about whether cicadas damage trees and more about which trees can tolerate the damage.
What Trees Do Cicadas Like
Cicadas favor woody plants with slender twigs for egg laying. They are drawn to many deciduous trees and shrubs, especially those with smooth, thin current-season growth. If you are asking what trees do cicadas live in, the better answer is that adults use trees as feeding and egg-laying sites, while the immature stage lives underground for years feeding on roots.
Common trees and shrubs they use
- Apple and other fruit trees
- Maples
- Oak
- Hickory
- Dogwood
- Serviceberry
- Elm
- Ornamental trees with soft new growth
What they avoid
Cicadas do not target tough, thick branches for egg laying. They prefer small twigs because the bark is easier to cut and the eggs fit safely inside. Evergreens are not their main focus for reproduction, and thick older wood is not attractive for egg deposition. A young tree with lots of fresh side shoots is the highest-risk “cicadas tree” situation.
Which Trees Are Most at Risk
The most vulnerable trees are young saplings, newly planted trees, and trees with trunks under about 2 inches in diameter. Small trees lose a much larger share of their canopy when cicadas cut twigs, and repeated losses can stunt growth. Newly transplanted trees are also stressed by root disturbance, so cicada injury hits harder.
Signs of damage to watch for
- Brown, drooping twig tips
- Slit marks along new branches
- Broken shoots hanging from the canopy
- Sparse leafing on fresh growth
- Egg-laying scars arranged in lines
When damage becomes serious
Damage matters most when a tree has only a small canopy to begin with. A sapling can lose a large part of its top growth in one emergence, which delays shaping and can leave an uneven structure. Established trees, by contrast, lose some current-season twigs and keep growing. The key point is that cicadas damage trees by pruning new growth, not by boring into trunks or stripping bark.
How to Protect Trees During a Cicada Emergence
Physical protection works better than sprays. The goal is to keep females from reaching tender twigs until egg laying ends. That protects the tree without harming beneficial insects or the soil.
- Cover young trees with fine netting or mesh before cicadas become active.
- Wrap the netting so it reaches the ground and fasten it tightly around the trunk.
- Check that branches cannot poke through openings.
- Keep the covering in place until the adult flight and egg-laying period ends.
- Water young trees deeply at the root zone so they handle stress better.
- Prune only dead or broken twigs after the emergence, not before.
For very small trees, staking and netting together give the best protection. If a tree is too large to cover, focus on watering and accepting minor twig loss as a temporary event.
Life Cycle, Behavior, and Why They Appear in Trees
Cicadas spend most of their lives underground as nymphs, feeding on root fluids. After many years, they emerge, shed their skins, and become winged adults. The adult stage is short and loud, with males singing from trees to attract mates.
Why trees matter to cicadas
Trees are the cicada’s above-ground stage. Adults climb trunks, fly into branches, and use tree limbs for mating and egg laying. That is why people see them clustered on bark and leaves. When you ask what trees do cicadas live in, the answer is that they are not true tree dwellers in the long term, but they depend on trees for reproduction and survival during adulthood.
What they eat
Adult cicadas do not eat leaves or wood. They drink tiny amounts of sap-like fluid from xylem tissue, which carries water through the plant. That feeding is light compared with the damage caused by the egg-laying cuts. Nymphs below ground feed on root fluids, not on the tree itself as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do cicadas damage trees by eating them?
No. Cicadas do not chew leaves or bore into trunks. Adult cicadas feed lightly on plant fluids, and the main damage comes from egg-laying cuts in small twigs. That is why the answer to “do cicadas eat trees” is no, even though they can leave visible branch injury.
Can cicadas kill a tree?
Healthy mature trees do not die from cicada activity. Young saplings and newly planted trees can suffer enough twig loss to slow growth, especially if they are already stressed. The most serious case is a small tree with repeated egg-laying injury and weak root establishment.
What should I plant if cicadas are expected?
Plant established trees with sturdier growth, and protect any new saplings with fine mesh during the emergence period. If you are choosing among vulnerable young trees, avoid relying on tender, fast-growing twigs as the only canopy structure. Strong root growth and physical protection matter more than any spray treatment.
What trees do cicadas like most?
They favor trees and shrubs with thin new twigs, including maples, fruit trees, oaks, hickories, dogwoods, and serviceberry. Those branches are easiest for females to cut during egg laying. A tree with lots of fresh spring growth attracts more attention than one with mostly thick, woody limbs.