Viewing post #2491341 by ElPolloDiablo

sallyg said:I wonder if a systemic would really do anything, they are not eating the plant, so their exposure is only through egg laying- by the time they are exposed, the damage is done.

The female has to cut the bark in order to lay her eggs: that's where the insecticide will get her. Usually they drop dead just before laying their eggs.
It's a standard form of management in large commercial orchards where netting is eminently impractical and is only applied once the first adult cicadas start appearing.

Of course, the problem with systemic is they'll kill the pollinators as well, that's why treatments need to be very carefully timed.