SINGAPORE – A cicada management effort touted as the nation’s “most comprehensive” will
kick off in Tampines Changkat
from March to deal with swarms of the insects entering homes there.
The constituency’s office said in a statement on Feb 26 that the five-month-long initiative would trial novel and safe strategies to deal with the cicadas, which seasonally emerge in swarms to the dismay of many residents there.
The solutions include placing mats to cover soil near the trees and wrapping tree trunks with foil to disrupt the life cycle of the cicadas, the constituency said.
No further details on the measures were provided, although a town hall event on the issue will be held in the constituency on March 1.
Cicadas, known to be one of the world’s loudest insects, usually live in areas with mature trees, feeding on their sap.
In recent years, they have been making an unusual appearance in urban Tampines Changkat, with residents reporting the growing presence of cicadas in and near their homes since 2022.
Residents say the cicadas typically emerge in swarms during the hotter months from March in noisy groups of about 10, with their population eventually declining after three to four months. Cicadas often emerge in groups from the ground at the same time, unleashing a cacophony as the males sing to attract their mates.
When night falls during those months, residents said the insects – roughly the size of two 50 cent coins – would buzz around the lights, darting to and fro in common spaces and flats.
When The Straits Times visited Blocks 321 and 322 of Tampines Street 33, where the previous cicada swarms were reported, on Feb 25, the faint calls of the bugs could be heard, but they remained unseen.
Nine out of the 10 households interviewed said they have noticed the insects’ presence since 2022, and that their numbers seem to go up every year.
Most of them also felt the population needed to be controlled, as the noise, as well as the large swarms of insects in the corridors and their homes, have disrupted their daily routines.
The faint calls of cicadas could be heard when the Straits Times visited Blocks 321 (pictured) and 322 of Tampines Street 33, but the bugs remained unseen.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Resident Carlos Kennerley, 58, said: “You would hear people screaming inside the lifts because the cicadas were getting inside the lift.
