With more cicadas emerging across Central Illinois, you might wonder what happens if your pet gets a hold of one or multiple bugs. Cicadas will swarm the region this summer, with both the U.S.’s 13- and 17-year broods scheduled to emerge in Illinois.

Although cicadas can be unnerving and outright spooky in big numbers, they’re not harmful at all. Even if they wanted to bite or sting, they don’t have the body parts for it. They don’t destroy crops like locusts,

Two broods of cicadas will co-emerge this spring, making way for a massive cicada invasion. Is there any harm if your dog or cat gets into the bugs?

Cicadas aren’t crunchy. At least, they don’t have to be. Sure, you can chomp down on a fully grown cicada, exoskeleton and all. But the better culinary bet is to look for the tenerals—the pale, soft-bodied nymphal cicadas that have just abandoned their exoskeletons.