ARGENTA, Ill. (WAND) — As soon as you step foot in Argenta, the cicadas greet you with a sound that most in central Illinois are becoming used to right now.
To many, cicadas are just a nuisance, but for Mark Allen, who owns and runs his own fruit orchard in Argenta, they are much more than that.
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"People think, well, they're harmless, they don't do anything, they don't kill the tree." Allen continued, "Which is true, they will not kill the tree. But all the branches that get split open are going to die on the end and that's where all of the fruits and the nuts are, so we're going to lose 50% if not more of all of our fruit and nut crop this year."
Allen will have to wait until next year to see the full potential of the orchard that he's built and grown over the last decade plus.
"It is disappointing to see something that you've put 12 years into and just can't wait to see the end product and then you have to wait another year."
Even if you don't see a lot of them in Springfield, Champaign, or Decatur, just outside the city, wooded areas are swarming with them.
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