Penn State Ag Sciences Newsline -- May 6, 2008
Cicadas to cause a ruckus in parts of Pennsylvania (:51)
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Suggested Intro:
A LARGE PORTION OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA SOON WILL BE INVADED BY A MYSTERIOUS INSECT, BUT AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN PENN STATE'S COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES SAYS IT'S NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. CHUCK GILL REPORTS:
Story:
(:11) IF YOU HEAR AN EERIE-SOUNDING NOISE AND SEE LARGE INSECTS FLYING AROUND STARTING IN LATE MAY, YOU'RE PROBABLY SEEING BROOD XIV (14) OF THE PERIODICAL CICADA, WHICH WAS LAST SEEN IN 1991.
(:19) SOMETIMES MISTAKENLY CALLED 17-YEAR LOCUSTS, PERIODICAL CICADAS SPEND 17 YEARS UNDERGROUND AS NYMPHS. IN LATE MAY, THEY EMERGE...SHED THEIR SKIN…AND MATE. THEY MAY LOOK MENACING -- ONE AND A HALF INCHES LONG WITH REDDISH EYES AND ORANGE WING VEINS -- BUT PENN STATE EXTENSION ENTOMOLOGIST GREG HOOVER SAYS THEY'RE HARMLESS TO HUMANS
:Hoover Actuality:
(:12) "THEY DO NOT BITE US, THEY DO NOT HARM PETS. IN FACT, THEY ARE AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF FOOD FOR SONGBIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE IN PENNSYLVANIA THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS LARGE AMOUNT OF PROTEIN WHEN THEY ARE ACTIVE."(:09) HOOVER SAYS PERIODICAL CICADAS CAN DAMAGE TWIGS ON WOODY ORNAMENTALS DURING EGG-LAYING. BUT HE SAYS THEY'LL BE GONE BY THE 4TH OF JULY. FROM PENN STATE, I'M CHUCK GILL.
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