The Deadly Sting of Cicadas (reports from 1868)

I did a search of some American newspapers from 1868 – “the great cicada year” when major 13- and 17-year broods emerged simultaneously – for reports of people being harmed or dying after being “stung” by cicadas (often erroneously called locusts). It’s likely that some reports were grossly exaggerated or never happened at all; in other cases, different insects (such as wasps) may have been responsible.

Indianapolis Journal, IN, 22 June 1868.

Rolla Express Newspaper, MO, 27 June 1868.

Middletown Transcript, DE, 27 June 1868.

Daily Ledger, New Albany, IN, 27 June 1868.

Bloomsburg Democrat, PA, 1 July 1868.

Pittsburgh Gazette, PA, 7 July 1868.

 Lancaster Daily Intelligencer, PA, 8 July 1868.

C. L. Marlatt, The Periodical Cicada (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1898), 59-61. Note: This report contains a reference to The American Locust, etc. (1857), an unpublished manuscript by Gideon Smith.