Cicada Mania

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June 27, 2015

What eats cicadas?

Filed under: FAQs | Massospora — Dan @ 1:32 pm

What eats cicadas? A better question is: what doesn’t eat cicadas?

Pretty much every creature with a mouth will eat a cicada, given the chance. Even organisms without mouths like fungi will consume cicadas.

People, pets, rodents, marsupials, reptiles, birds, fish, insects, arachnids — virtually any creature will eat them.

Some insects are known for specifically preying on cicadas, for example, Cicada Killer Wasps are well known for capturing cicadas for their larvae to eat them.

What eats them when they’re underground? When they’re underground they’re often eaten by moles and other furry insectivores, but enough of them escape the moles for the species to survive.

Read are cicadas safe to eat if you’re planning a cicada buffet.

15 Comments »

  1. Lorenzo Reyes says:

    How do cicadas get nourishment?

    1. Dan says:

      They drink the sap of plants, especially trees.

  2. Faye Harness says:

    I’ve been having alot of troubles with moles and then i seen all these cicadas on my trees and all over the ground, moles been giving me trouble for about 4 years so is it possible when cicadas are gone my mole trouble will be too I’ve tried everything to kill mole HELP!!!

    1. Dan says:

      Maybe. Moles will eat them. You’ll know for sure in weeks to come. If the moles go away, maybe it was the cicadas. If not, they’re after the larvae of beetles or worms.

  3. Emily Wagner says:

    I saw a cicada shell on a tree with the cicada still inside, but the bug itself was emptied from the inside out. There was also a small insect hanging out on the abdomen. Do you have any idea what did this?

  4. Sanford says:

    Saw a rabbit eating a cicada. Eate s lot of them

  5. Miguel A says:

    I’ve notice that that over night my lawn has been dug up. I assume the animal is looking for cicadas? What animal could that be?

    1. Dan says:

      Pretty much all animals. But skunks are well known for this sort of activity.

    2. Chris says:

      In Texas when I lived there it was stupid armadillos that would dig up your lawn looking for the bugs.

    3. Stuart says:

      A raccoon dug up large sections of my lawn last fall until I trapped him with a turkey wing. Must have looking for grubs.

  6. Sally says:

    Today I found 2 areas close to each other of hundreds of cicada wings. It looks like maybe some animal had a feast and left the wings. Would that be right?

    1. Dan says:

      Sounds like it. Probably birds.

  7. Elizabeth says:

    do rabbits eat cicadas?

    1. Dan says:

      Probably not because they’re vegetarians. Maybe accidentally.

  8. Katherine Welch says:

    I would love to send you a picture of one that landed on our porch. I think it’s dying.

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