If you believe you’ve been bitten and you’re concerned, the best thing to do is to consult a doctor, not this webpage. :)
Technically cicadas don’t bite or sting; they do however pierce and suck. They might try to pierce and suck you, but don’t worry, they aren’t Vampires nor are they malicious or angry — they’re just ignorant and think you’re a tree. Just remove the cicada from your person, and go about your business. Cicadas also have pointy feet, egg-laying parts (ovipositors) and other sharp parts that might feel like a bite.
Cicadas don’t have jaws (mandibles) like a wasp, mantis or ant, built to tear and chew flesh. Cicadas don’t have stingers, like bees and wasps, meant to deploy venom and paralyze or otherwise harm their victim. See a video of a Japanese hornet to see what I mean.
Cicadas obtain sustenance by drinking tree fluids, which are relatively watery compared to human blood. Drinking human blood would probably kill a cicada.
See if you can spot the cicadas’ sucker in this illustration:
Here’s a photo of a cicada’s mouth parts:
There is also a chance that if you believe you’ve been bitten by a cicada, you might have been bitten by a Cicada Killer Wasp. The Cicada Killer Wasp is a large wasp that hunts cicadas, and usually can be found around cicadas or often attached to a cicada. Cicada Killer Wasps normally avoid humans, but if you mess with one, it might attack.
when i was younger i found a cicada and i was showing my mom ,then all of a sudden it pierced my finger.About 6 years later(today) i found another one on the ground after a freak thunder storm ant i don’t know if its going to do that buzzing thing or even sting me, are there any signs to show that they will buzz or sting?
Comment by ashley hemmings — July 18, 2008 @ 11:40 am
I am writing tonight July 19th 2008,I saw this other comment by Ashley and it blew my mind.I live in wolfeboro NH and I found a cicada last night after the thunderstorm we had and I held it on my finger and brought it to the store,I drove,walked around the store and payed for groceries while this thing was sitting in my thumb!!!I didnt realise what it was,my 4 yr old daughter was sticking her fingers in front of it and it lifted its 2 front legs and then opened its mouth and this like 3-4 inch straw like thing came out of its mouth,that was my que to get it off of my hand!!I flicked it and it flew away.It never made any noises or buzzing at all during the whole hour and a half!I am so happy that I got the opportunity to hold such an amazing creature especially for that long without it biting me!!
Comment by angel — July 19, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
one was on my tire this morning. u said that it sucks, will it pierce my tire? i dont need another flat one.
Comment by letoya — August 23, 2008 @ 7:45 am
I hope not — they aren’t that tough.
Comment by Dan — August 23, 2008 @ 8:17 am
While my 7-month-old grandchild was in his saucer on the porch this morning, a cicada landed on his cheek and began to buzz. i flicked it off but his cheek is all red. i think it is from irritation (he has sensitive skin) rather than from any kind of bite.
Comment by Noel — August 28, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
OK today I had a Cicada latch onto my arm and peiced through my shirt and started to suck my blood… It was sitting on there for about 10 minutes before I realised what was happening.
Secondly I tried to get it off me, it flew back on and proceeded to bite me.
THIS HURT LIKE HELL
im also not feeling so good at the moment.. Ive never been bitten by one before.
Comment by Angus — January 4, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
omg the other day I was getting a cicada out of my pool because it was drowning. I saved it. It sat on me for a while but then it felt like it was stabbing me. I had a look and this big long stick like thing was stabbing my hand and it really hurt!!!!!
Comment by char — February 17, 2009 @ 3:52 pm
[...] May 2009 We have been trying to find out this information, and there is a very amusing posting on Cicada Mania that indicates they may bite. It states: “Technically cicadas don’t bite or sting; they [...]
Pingback by Another BUG OF THE MONTH MAY 2009: 17 Year Locusts, Scientists surprised By Unexpected Emergence Of Periodical Cicadas — Four Years Early | What's That Bug? — May 10, 2009 @ 6:51 am
Wow, cicadas hurt, and it’s especially annoying since I prevented it from being incinerated. It was crawling on me and suddenly i felt this VERY sharp pain in my finger and I saw the aforementioned very large, painful, proboscis.
Comment by Jack — August 18, 2009 @ 10:59 pm
I saw two weird looking bugs on my trash can while cleaning my car. I took a picture of them and e-mailed them to my husband. Needless to say i quit cleaning my car. I DON”T LIKE BUGS. My nephew came out to see what all of the fuss was about. I was looking them up online. he told me they were called cicadas and that they normally don’t bite. I found out that it was only the shell that was on my trash can so no i get to go finish cleaning my car. I was really freaked out though, because i have never seen anything like it before.
Comment by Rachel — August 19, 2009 @ 10:44 am
I often wondered whether or not cicadas bite…or cause pain in some “weird” way. I live in Fla. and I get them on my driveway often. I often find them on their backs buzzing and chirping trying to get right side up. I just flip them over carefully with a stick. I never picked one up by hand though. Thats when I googled “do cicadas bite?” and found this site. Glad I read this. I have often been tempted to pick one up. Hah..not anymore. Thanks for the comments people :)
Comment by Bruce Wrigleys gumchew — August 19, 2009 @ 10:07 pm
It’s possible that they could puncture your skin with their straw-like mouth parts because they think you’re a tree, but they don’t bite or sting in self defense like bees, wasps, and ants do.
Comment by Dan — August 20, 2009 @ 5:24 am
i was at a 7-11 store and i was getting out of my car, and realized what was in the back seat,( a huge cicada) and it bit me, everyone thinks that its all in my head, it happened, i didnt take long for me to feel nausious, i think it wanted to kill me? but i lived to tell the story, and bottom line. they bite… and most people say that they dont hurt you, b.s ..oh… and someone also told me that they cant see? b.s… that one that bit me at first circled around the parking lot and attacked me again. my wife is a witness,
Comment by mostwanted — August 27, 2009 @ 6:19 am
I was terrified when I was on my skateboard and I was about to ollie (jump with a skateboard) over a crate.. Next thing this HUGE bug falls centimeters from my head and it messed me up so bad.. I ran away for 10 seconds and came back… And it stopped screeching I was like !! What is that? Then I figured it had to be a cicada cause it was the loudest and biggest screaming bug I ever saw.. Then it was starting to get dark.. And I think I rolled over it =(..
Comment by BNyc3AtBall — September 1, 2009 @ 7:14 am
I was sitting on my girlfriends couch petting her cat when all of a sudden there as a strange creepy feeling on my arm. I looked down and there was huge cicada latched to my shirt. It had greenish wings and big buggy eyes. My girlfriend heard me moaning and came to see this thing that was perched on my arm so she went to get a glass jar to capture it. By the time she got back she said I looked pale and thought maybe he sucked too much blood which really FREAKED me out! She said not to worry but keep it away from the cat he’s already too shy. We kept it in the jar but he died over night and I can’t find any taxidermists to mount it for me.
Comment by RandmAxess — September 1, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
I was gardening with a friend when I saw a cicada on a plant. I let it crawl onto my finger and it stayed there for a while. Then I saw what looked like a proboscis or something come out towards my finger, so I flicked the cicada off. It didn’t pierce the skin, but it sort of freaked me out. :)
Comment by ook — September 8, 2009 @ 5:56 am
What is wrong with you psycho’s??????
Cicada’s don’t bite….they don’t have a mouth!
They do however have a straw-like appendage wich is how they feed themselves.
Hell, if you was to leave one on your arm long enough sure they would attempt to eat, but they don’t suck blood….get real!
I have considered Cicada’s my favorite insect for nearly 35 years. When I was 8 years old I would go out at night and gather them before they would hatch and put them on the inside of my window screen. They would hatch and in the morning I would send them on their way. Kinda my way of making sure one of God’s creatures survived the process of hatching overnight.
They are quite harmless and after letting my kids read your silly stories they are laughing at each one of you….don’t confuse this with laughing with you……wimps.
Comment by M W Desteiguer — September 16, 2009 @ 7:25 pm
I live in North Florida. I was surprised to read the post from the lady in Fl who said she often had them. I was born and raised in S. Fl and never saw one. But have moved to N. Fl now. One day I heard a VERY loud buzzing noise. It was so loud it alarmed me. So I opened the front door to find a dead Cicada (was his chirping his farewell speech)? I was so impressed by it and it’s massive size. I put it’s body in a jar to save and show to someone. My neighbor’s son collects insects and he ask for it. So that “little” guy “lives on” in a collection. It impressed quite a few of us who had never seen one. And now I have finally heard the sound I’ve heard so much about from others.
PS.
Was it lost? Never seen one before or since and it’s been a several years.
Comment by Shari — October 25, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
I live in Indiana and I found one on a tree. I went to get my big brother to touch it with a stick,and when he did,a huge stinger came zig-zaging out!!! OMG!!!
Comment by Raina — July 17, 2010 @ 5:35 am
i save these awesome buggies all the time. i just now saved one when it came falling out of a tree. it hit my recycling can and its wings are all bent out of shape. hes running around like hes fine but he tried to fly multiple times but he didnt have any success :P i dont think they sting because whenever i hold them nothing happens. and i read that if you sit still while one is on you, it could think you’re a tree and it could try to feed on you. its not purposely trying to hurt you though.
Comment by Ellie — July 17, 2010 @ 8:55 am
The puncture does hurt. Went out the front door and twice this week there have been cicada lurking. I pointed my cane toward one to make it move and it attacked it. The one tonight got on my little finger, punctured, I howled and shook it off finally. Then when I went to whack it with my cane it jumped on the cane and then on my leg. Yuck! But life got short for it then. But they are tough!
Comment by Rosestormchicken — July 17, 2010 @ 8:06 pm
wow. i didn’t know that they did that. i dont think they’re trying to hurt you, though. the one i saved yesterday tried to feed on me and i know this because i saw his/her mouth thingy starting to fold out. i got kinda scared because i read this blog and i didn’t want to get hurt. now im kind of scared of them… i’m still going to save them though.
Comment by Ellie — July 18, 2010 @ 10:20 am
Cicadas do not sting or bite, they are not venomous. However, their legs can be slightly prickly AND with just the right amount of fear mixed with imagination, you may think you’ve just been bitten or stung. They are harmless, although if you’re afraid of them they can cause you to hurt yourself trying to get away from them.
I’m from Alabama and I love the sound of cicadas, to me their sound is pure 100% southern summer. (I know they live all over the world.)
I have fond memories as a child, caching them as they crawled out of the ground, placing them in a jar and staying up most of the night to watch them molt from their shell and transform into their adult size. For me that process of transformation is still amazing!
I love how moviemakers, producing summer movies, usually have cicadas singing in the background. I also love when novelist write about them to set a summer scene.
Again, to me, it’s pure southern summer.
Comment by David — July 18, 2010 @ 10:42 am
There were hundreds of them flying around my front yard. My dad started to cut the grass and they all landed on him. I had to help him pick them all off!
Comment by Jake — July 28, 2010 @ 5:28 am
My son was stung/bitten (near an apple tree) by a cicada bug last night! It was the most painful thing he has experieced. Stung him on the knuckle of his index finger, drew blood, and his entire hand is swollen up to his wrist! I witnessed it continuing to circle him, and keep trying to attack him!
Comment by Kathy — August 3, 2010 @ 10:04 am
they do BITE!!!!!!! was on my deck after swimming in the pool. I has a oil torch lit and was just sitting in my chair and it buzzed in my hair. when i swept it off my head, it bite my ring finger on my left hand and immediately it starting swelling up and hurt like hell!!! could not wear my rings for about 6 days and the bite site was red and tender to the touch…now, when i am outside, if i hear one screaming like the other one did, i RUN!!!!!
Comment by vicki — August 3, 2010 @ 10:07 pm
Today I saw one on a rose plant I got my sister to try catch it in a jar as it was making a really annoying sound. When we put a jar around it made a sound that was similar to a wasps buzz it then flew away.. It doesn’t look that harmful but now I’ve read these comments I will not persuade anyone to catch one again !
Comment by kathryn — August 6, 2010 @ 6:07 am
Cicada’s don’t bite or sting. They don’t hurt in anyway. However if you catch one before it’s molted, the front claws can almost hurt. :) If you have claimed to have been bitten or stung by one, it was something else or your imagination.
Comment by Johnny — August 7, 2010 @ 5:30 pm
i seen a cicada today at my sister’s. it was crawling into the ground,we were saying what’s that and dismissed it. later on one flew into the house and we caught it. it was screaming like a cat with a rocking chair on it’s tail. I have never heard of this bug until i looked it up on the computer. It really is a weird creature!
Comment by christan — August 7, 2010 @ 9:31 pm
Today on August 8,2010 I helped a little cicada get right side up off the ground, when it tried to pierce my finger(pointer) I quickly flicked it off. After about 30 min. my finger was still irritating me so I came inside to learn a little about cicadas. Instead, I found out that cicadas are so dumb that they thought my finger was a tree limb. :)
Comment by Wolven Cappon — August 8, 2010 @ 12:28 pm
I have a video of me playing with a cicada. It stabs a leather glove with it’s proboscis then it tries to stab my finger. Crazy video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQFuzbBsIc
Comment by Dave — August 9, 2010 @ 9:11 pm
I just made 5 or 6 videos of a cicada who would not allow my family and me to go outside. It was false imprisonment, to say the least. A friend tried to go out, and a silent cicada flew in. Then, the other cicada, who was very boistrous, like a screaming cat, was attacking all of us in quite the psychotic manner. My son caught it and was holding it by it’s sides very gently, and he and the cicada began to have a screaming match. It was hilarious, and so I thought I might actually open a youtube account for giggles. We’ll call the videos “Cicada training, 101. No Cicadas were harmed during the taping of these videos, but let me tell you, every time we went to set the loud one free, he would charge right back at us with great vengeance, and a lot of screaming ensued. After setting his silent partner free, there have been no further skirmishes with this monster.:)
Comment by Old Goat Lady — August 14, 2010 @ 8:48 pm
I hope you post the videos online!
Comment by Dan — August 14, 2010 @ 10:25 pm
Oh, I will! Not just yet, though. I haven’t even gotten the videos off my camera yet. Will notify when I do.
Comment by Old Goat Lady — August 16, 2010 @ 1:04 am