If I'm not mistaken that would be the 17 year cicada emergence. Locusts are a form of grasshopper which eat plants like crazy, while the cicadas just make a racket but don't typically feed as winged adults (they feed on plant roots as larvae underground). The females make tiny slits in bark to lay their eggs, but the impact of this is usually minimal. You should not have anything to worry about with your trees from this emergence.

You are right, "cicadas" not locusts. My apologies. I'm a novice. But nevertheless, I don't want the cicadas digging in the bark of my saplings. So that was the cause for my concern.

S W PA yep they are coming. It been all over the news. And yes they will kill young trees. They are telling us to wait till next year to plant trees. Any woody branch 1 /2 inch or less they will lay there eggs in and once the eggs hatch they suck the life out of the branch. The larger trees can survive with no problem, but it can kill the younger ones. Last year my daughter, half an hour south of me has some other kind of cicadas and they killed her young weeping cherry. Any small mesh netting will work. I found a bunch of netting cheep used for sewing at a resale shop. If you go on the Internet they will tell you there favorite bush and trees and the size of netting. The news is telling us in some places we could see 1 to 1 1 /2 million per acre. I hope it is somewhere else and not at my house. I spent last summer killing Japanese beetles that I never had before.

Wow! That's a lot! Yah, I'm definitely buying some fine netting very soon to drape over my saplings. I planted them last fall, not knowing of this cicada infestation coming. I don't want to lose those trees! Thanks for the feedback!

If your in NE ohio I don't think you will be bad. The epic center is suppose to be SW PA, the pan handle of WV, and SE ohio. I know there is a map on line who is going to get hit.

@functionthenlook, yup, I'm in that area. So I'm anticipating their arrival and want to protect my saplings. Thanks for the feedback!

Matt, the cicadas are out in southern Ohio. They were spotted 5 miles from me in Sewickley, PA.

Thank you, I have my saplings covered with netting, so I think I'm safe. I've not spotted them in my area yet.

Update: I've had my saplings covered all summer with netting. Lo and behold, there's not been a single cicada in my area. 10 miles down the road though, they were out like crazy. It's the end of August now. Is there any remaining threat of cicada emergence in my area? How long into the fall do I have to keep them covered, or can I uncover them now?