When you hear buzzing in your Virginia or Maryland backyard, you might wonder: cicada vs locust, which one is it? As a technician with our family business (50+ years in the DMV), I’ve helped many homeowners tell these apart.
The mix-up goes way back. Early settlers mistook cicada swarms for Old World locusts, which is why some people still say “17-year locusts.” But these are totally different insects with very different effects on your yard.
Here’s what a cicada looks like up close so you can compare to what you’re seeing.
The Basic Difference
Cicadas and locusts belong to completely different insect groups. They’re as different as butterflies and beetles.
In Virginia and Maryland, when people say “locusts,” they usually mean grasshoppers like the two-striped grasshopper. True swarming locusts are rare in the eastern US, though grasshopper numbers can spike during warm, dry weather.
Here’s what each one looks like side by side.
How to Tell Them Apart
Body Shape
Cicadas are stocky, about ¾ to 1½ inches long, with bright red eyes (on periodical types). Grasshoppers are slimmer and longer (1-2 inches) with brown or green eyes.
Wings
Cicadas have clear, glassy wings with orange veins, held tent-style over their bodies. Grasshoppers have tough, leathery front wings that fold over the back.
Legs and Movement
Grasshoppers have big, powerful hind legs built for jumping. You’ll see them leap several feet in a second. Cicadas have normal-sized legs and are slow, clumsy fliers. They don’t jump at all.
Cicada vs Locust: Key Differences
| Cicadas | Locusts (Grasshoppers) | |
|---|---|---|
| Body Size | ¾ to 1½ inches | 1-2 inches |
| Eye Color | Bright red | Brown or green |
| Wings | Clear with orange veins | Leathery forewings |
| Hind Legs | Normal size | Enlarged for jumping |
| Sound Level | 90-100 decibels | 50-70 decibels |
| Plant Damage | Minimal feeding damage | Heavy defoliation |
Life Cycles
Cicadas
Our region has two types of cicadas:
- Periodical cicadas with 13- or 17-year cycles
- Annual cicadas that show up every summer
The periodical broods make the big headlines. Virginia Tech Extension tracks several broods in our area: Brood X (last out in 2021, back in 2038), Brood XIV (due in southwestern Virginia in 2025), and Brood XIX (13-year cycle, out in southern Virginia in 2024).
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers have a simple one-year cycle. Eggs go into bare soil in late summer, survive winter, and hatch in late May or June. Some years, cicada emergences overlap with peak grasshopper season.
The Sounds They Make
Cicada Buzz
Cicadas make noise using organs called tymbals that flex fast in their abdomen. During big emergence years, the combined buzz can be very loud.
CDC research found that Brood X choruses hit 90-100 decibels at 3 feet away, about as loud as a lawn mower. Sounds above 85 decibels can damage hearing over time, so wear ear protection if you’re working outside near large groups of cicadas.
Grasshopper Chirps
Grasshoppers make sound by rubbing their hind leg against their wing, like a bow on a violin. They’re much quieter (50-70 decibels) and usually chirp at dawn and dusk instead of midday.
Plant Damage
Cicadas
Cicadas sip tree sap through straw-like mouths. They do almost no feeding damage. The main concern is egg-laying damage: females cut slits in thin twigs, which causes “flagging” (dead twig tips). Young trees and new plantings are most at risk.
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are the real plant destroyers. They have chewing mouths and will eat through vegetables, soybeans, sweet corn, and more. During outbreak years (often after warm, dry springs), they can strip a garden bare in days.
How to Handle Each One
Cicada Management
Cicadas need protection, not elimination. The numbers are too large for sprays to work, and adults only live 4-6 weeks.
Cover young trees with 1/4 to 3/8-inch mesh netting from the first emergence through late June. Tie the netting at the trunk base to keep cicadas off the branches.
Grasshopper Control
Grasshoppers need a more active approach:
- Yard work: Cut tall weeds near gardens, till egg beds in fall, and use row covers on seedlings. See our cricket vs grasshopper guide for more.
- Microbial baits: Nosema locustae spores work well on nymphs in smaller areas
- Targeted sprays: When numbers get too high, we treat nymphs early (before they grow wings) using barrier treatments around garden edges
Here are the key steps to remember for managing both pests.
- Treat grasshoppers early: Hit nymphs in May-June before they grow wings
- Protect trees from cicadas: Use mesh netting during emergence years
- Watch spring weather: Warm, dry springs mean bigger grasshopper numbers
- Cut weeds: Tall weeds near gardens attract grasshoppers
In Our Region
University of Maryland Extension tracks which counties will see different cicada broods through 2038. Brood X (out in 2021) won’t return until 2038, but other broods will show up sooner in different parts of the area.
For grasshoppers, Virginia Tech shows that warm, dry springs drive population booms. Areas like Ashburn, South Riding, and Leesburg often see higher numbers because of the mix of development and farmland edges.
Common Myths
“Cicadas eat your plants.” False. Any leaf damage comes from grasshoppers or other chewing insects, not cicadas.
“Branches oozing sap means cicada feeding.” The oozing comes from egg-laying slits, not feeding.
“Locust outbreaks happen every 17 years.” This mixes up periodical cicadas with grasshoppers. Grasshopper numbers depend on weather, not set cycles.
Seasonal Timeline
- April-May: Watch for cicada emergences when soil at 8 inches deep hits 64°F. Get netting ready for young trees.
- June: Peak cicada song and egg-laying. Scout for flagged twigs. Grasshopper eggs are hatching too.
- July-August: Annual cicadas start buzzing. Grasshoppers are growing and feeding hard on garden edges.
- September-October: Grasshoppers feed until the first hard frost and lay eggs in bare soil for next year.
Here’s a closer look at both insects and the habitats where you’ll find them.
When to Call a Pro
Most cicada and grasshopper problems can be handled with good timing and yard care. Call a professional when:
- You have valuable young trees or vines during a cicada emergence year
- Grasshopper numbers are too high for your garden to handle
- Your property borders farmland or open fields where outbreaks start
Early treatment of grasshopper nymphs works much better than waiting until they’re full-grown adults with wings.
If you need help with either pest, call us at 703-683-2000 or email info@bettertermite.com. We’ll figure out what you’re dealing with and build a plan for your property.
