Cicadas useful after death

CINCINNATI, June 10 (UPI) -- An expert says those hundreds of thousands of dead cicadas dropping from trees across the United States will make good fertilizer.

"Rake them up in the yard and use a mulching mower, or sweep them into a garden," said cicada authority Gene Kritsky, a College of Mount St. Joseph biology professor in Cincinnati. "They're really high in nitrogen and potassium, two ingredients you find in any good fertilizer. It's a waste of good fertilizer to bag them up and throw them away."

Ancient by insect standards, the 17-year-old Brood X cicadas are reaching the end of the road.

"After they've mated and laid their eggs, that's pretty much it for them. There will be a very rapid die-off in the middle of next week," Kritsky told the Dayton Daily News.

Kritsky said cicadas' egg-laying increases fruit yields and when they burrow out, they aerate the soil. For their grand finale, they add nitrogen to the soil when they die.