Comments on: Do cicadas bite or sting?

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:59:05 +0000

Go see a doctor and let us know how it turns out.

By: Tom P

Tom P — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:44:05 +0000

Was at Smith Mountain Lake in VA catching Cicada’s for fishing (amazing bait by the way). I would catch them and hold them in my hand sometimes 5 or 6 for prolonged periods. I would feel a bite or sting frequently. I thought it was just their legs grabbing hold. That night I woke up with bites like a mosquito or small hives. I literally have a hundred all over the palms of my hand. It is extremely uncomfortable. I have barely been able to sleep for 2 nights and have a doctors appointment today. It is not Poison Ivy (I get that too). I wish I could post a picture. I have had similar looking marks from catching bristle worms in the ocean. In any event, I have caught cicadas when they were around my whole life and never had this issue.

By: madison

madison — Tue, 28 May 2013 00:39:45 +0000

i was juskoutside when my dog was sniffing at somthing and my dad told me to see what he was sniffing at so i went and looked but i couldn`t see anything and then i saw a whole bunch of bugs i did not know where they came from but i asked my parents what it was and they said it was a cicada i started freaking out so i just ran inside to look up if they bite or sting so then when i finished reading i did this

By: Patch

Patch — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 04:39:24 +0000

I found a cicada in a parking lot where I work, picked it up and it started screaming bloody murder. I left it in a co-worker’s cash register drawer because i knew he was afraid of bugs and told him that there were reports of huge mutant virus flies that scream at you before they kill you. Having said that ive picked them up and held them before, never had a problem with one trying to drink the sap out of me.

By: MrsJH

MrsJH — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 17:37:43 +0000

Here’s a thought…wear a garden glove, then pick it up, or let it grab on. Then you can look through its wings…they’re clear, basically. Really fascinating creatures.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:18:58 +0000

It’s only likely to happen if you hold a cicada in your hand for a very long time, so long that it begins to get thirsty from not being on a plant where it can drink, or if the cicada has been kept in a cage for a long time away from living plant material. You will never be pricked by a cicada that you just pick up and put on your hand briefly if you just caught it from the vegetation.

By: M

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:45:01 +0000

Its a good thing I found this site. I NEVER knew cicadas “bite”. I would always pick these insects up or off tree ever since I was young. And still do but won’t anymore. I’ve held these insects many many times. If you touch the behind part (don’t know what its call, the butt??) of these insects it would start to buzz. I’ve been lucky so far, knock on wood.

By: robin stachniik

robin stachniik — Sun, 27 May 2012 07:55:48 +0000

I used to play with these things when I was a kid and they never punctured me, I think people are exaggerating. During the 17 year ones in Illinois I used to grab handfuls of them and I am terrified of spiders, june bugs, any type of roach, and centipedes. These are kind of cute.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:08:58 +0000

I am at school with a bug catcher full of cicadas.I have played with these things since I can remember.One has punctured me, it felt like getting a mesquito bite.I’m 11 people, stop being such wimps.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:06:17 +0000

I live in GA and I’ve never been stabbed by a cicada. We have them all over the place starting from about late May until early August and I find the nymph shells everywhere. But the point is.. They never bother us much. We have the really big ones too.