Cicada and Magicicada News Archive for 2004

2004 - April 2005 Cicada News Archive

4/6/2005: Cicada Photos from New Zealand, Electri[c]icada, Cicada CD, and Stragglers.

Awesome Cicada photos from New Zealand: Steve Reekie is a great nature photographer. Take a look at some of his cicada photos: Gone But Not Forgotten, Chorus Cicada, Cicada Nymph, and Little Grass Cicada.
Cicada Art: Look at this cool electric cicada art titled Electri[c]icada by drp. Thanks to Flying Fur (a blog about bats) for the link.
Laura has set up a web page for her cicada sounds CD. It includes MP3 samples.
Got Stragglers? Even though the big emergence happened last year, a few cicadas from the same brood might emerge this year as well. This phenomenon is calling Straggling. And you thought you were safe for the next 17 years? More info about Straggling can be found on the The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Insect Division Periodical Cicada Page.

3/27/2005: New Cicada Photos, Turkeys Love Cicadas, Cicada Research in Asia.

Cicada Photos: cicada photos from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania from Fred St. John.
More cicadas = more turkeys! Wild turkeys believed plentiful for spring hunt. "State biologists believe wild turkeys gorged on cicadas last summer, and that could produce a record harvest this spring.
Hot-season insects of Lampang."Cicadas are interesting insects and crunchy to eat when fried just right".
Harsh peat swamp forests teeming with life."Cicada researcher Azman Sulaiman might have stumbled upon one without even getting his feet muddied. The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia scientist has tentatively identified the two cicadas collected at the Kampung Runchang base camp as from the Chremistica genus."

3/12/2005: New Insect Sounds CD, a new shirt design and alleged stunted trees.

Laura of the Magicicada Yahoo! Group has released a CD of Insect Sounds called Insect Summer of Love. I've heard it and it's fantastic. If you're interested in obtaining a copy, email Laura at greenfeather1@hotmail.com
We have a new cicada t-shirt design.
Now the so called experts are saying that the latest cicada emergence stunted tree growth. WCPO:Cicadas Stunted Tree Growth, WAVY: Research shows effect of cicadas on trees, and Cinncinnati.com: Cicadas put damper on tree growth.

1/20/2005: New Brasilia, Brazil cicada gallery, Cameron Diaz hates cicadas, and BUGGIN' WITH RUUD

NEW! Gallery: Leonardo Milhomem's photos of cicadas from Brasilia, Brazil: a Quesada gigas, a Majeorona aper and a Fidicina mannifera.
News? Cameron Diaz hates cicadas! That's it: I'm boycotting her films. I don't care how pretty she is.
TV: A new Animal Planet show BUGGIN' WITH RUUD will feature cicadas!

1/15/2005: Cicada sounds and amusing Australian cicada names.

Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada Septendecim) field recordings: awesome cicada sounds from Aaron Lennox.
Got to love those Australian cicada names: Green Grocer, Black Prince, Yellow Monday, Chocolate Soldier, Masked Devil, Blue Moon, Double Drummer, Floury Baker, Cherrynose, Whiskey Drinker, Redeye, Bladder Cicada, Hairy Cicada, Golden Emperor, Eastern Sandgrinder, Brown Bunyip, and so much more.
Thanks to everyone who links to this site! Here are the top 20 linkers for 2004:
1. Maryland Department of Agriculture
2. Salt the Sandbox: Kid's Cicada Hunt
3. Cincinnati.com
4. USA Today's Web Guide
5. Songs of Cicadas from Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia
6. Chris from Death Cab for Cutie, which is a rock band.
7. Cicadae in Japan
8. Metafilter
9. Cicada Central
10. Time Magazine
11. The Entomological Society of America
12. Cicadas.info
13. Click on Detroit
14. San Diego's Rock Station: Rock 105.3
15. The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Insect Division Periodical Cicada Page
16. Skyrocket Software
17. Glen Este Middle School
18. Chiff.com
19. Prof. Chuck Holliday's Cicada-Killer Page
20. The Cicada That Ate Cincinnati

1/1/2005: Happy New Year!

12/24/2004: More Cicada Holiday wishes!

Merry X'mas and a Happy new year, an illustration by Chen Chen-Hsiang featuring a Platypleura hilpa.
We're in the process of renovating the web site. If you find any technical problems with the site while browsing, please let us know.

12/19/2004: Cicada Holiday wishes, definitions and a countdown to the next emergence of Brood X.

May all your Cicadas be Merry and Bright, an illustration by Judith Baker.
Merriam-Webster's Seventeen-Year Locust and cicada entries.
Check out the Cicada Countdown Committe.

12/14/2004: Cicadas are number one! National Geographics Top 10 News Stories of the Year.

This story about cicadas was chosen as National Geographic's number one news story of the year. Needless to say, I'm thrilled.

12/1/2004: Cicada takes 6th place in the top words of 2004 and a new cicada book from Taiwan

Merriam Webster released their top 10 words of 2004. Cicada is number 6!
Cicadas, an Elixir for the Earth.
Cicadas of Taiwan book (look for the book at the bottom of the page).

11/26/2004: Cicada make fertilizer for trees -- how about those apples? Plus, cicada sculpture in Brisbane.

Cicada infestations boost nutrients for forests from CBC.
Cicadas leave bounty of nutrients for forests from CNN.
Cicadas expected to stimulate forest growth from KFVS.
Sensor network mimics synchronized calling by frogs, cicadas from Science Blog.
A giant cicada sculpture in Brisbane Australia from The Courier-Mail.

11/17/2004: Real Locusts.

A lot of people confuse cicadas with real locusts, however they are two very different insects. Check out this Egyptian locust storm and I think you'll see the difference.

11/10/2004: Find the cicadas from Australia and New Zealand!

Photo: Find the Cicadas in these photos. Cicada photos courtesy of David Marshall and the Univ. of CT cicada team.
Website: Cicada: Zoology. Many links to photos and information about international cicadas.

10/24/2004: We have added a new video and photo of a Tibicen.

Photo: Can you find the Tibicen in this picture?
Video: A video of a Tibicen taken in August.
News: It's feast or famine at Cafe Hunger event: would you eat a cicada if you were hungry?
News: Cicada Serenada: a cool article about video games and cicadas from Game Industry News.
News: Farmers have own ways of predicting weather: an article about how farmers use cicadas to predict the weather.

10/1/2004: Halloween decorations and a cicada from Panama.

Gaye alerted us to the fact that Target is selling a Halloween decoration called Shaking Spiders -- when you press the spiders' button they shake and make the sound of a Magicicada septendecim. I purchased one, and I couldn't be more happy.
Check out the cicada picture on the Nattur Panama web site.

7/28/2004: More Tibicen photos and new cicada site.

Gallery Update: Roy Troutman's 2004 Tibicen Gallery has been updated with some fantastic new images.
Website: X: sounds, pictures and info from the Princeton emergence.

7/27/2004: A New Magicicada Gallery and a bad cicada movie.

Gallery: Nate Rhodes's 2004 Magicicada Gallery.
Movie: The Beast Within is a horrible horror movie about a boy who turns into a killer cicada.

7/25/2004: New Tibicen pictures, new Tibicen video, the final emergence report and a new article, What Happened: the Magicicada No-Show of 2004.

Gallery Update: Roy Troutman's 2004 Tibicen Gallery has been updated with some fantastic new images.
Photo: Tibicen exoskeletons from my backyard.
New Video: A video of a Tibicen moulting from Roy Troutman!
Emergence report: Our 2004 Magicicada Emergence Report is complete. Thanks to everyone who reported a cicada sighting.
New article: What Happened: the Magicicada No-Show of 2004. Most people in Long Island and New Jersey were disappointed with the Brood X emergence. Explore the clues to the Magicicada mystery of 2004.

7/20/2004: Japanese Cicada Gallery update, and a few odds and ends.

Gallery: John McDonald's Japanese Cicada Gallery has been updated with 7 new images.
Comic Book: A gruesome new evil has come to Keystone City, his name - Cicada!
Comic Poster: Cicadas Art Print!
News: Anything but the Cicadas: a crazy cicada news story from FOXNews. (thx Roy)

7/17/2004: Cicada lamps, new video, new galleries, gallery updates, polls, new web sites, CNN transcripts, comics, and I think we got dissed.

NEW! Gallery: John McDonald's Japanese Cicadas.
Cicada Lamp! Take a look at Gaye Williams' cicada lamps. They're hand made, filled with cicada shells, and we think they're awesome.
NEW! Video: A Magicicada cassini singing on Roy's hand filmed by Roy Troutman.
Gallery: the old school Gwen Elferdink, Les Daniels, Michel Chantraine, Osamu Hikino, and Roy Troutman popup galleries are now slideshows -- a new random image every 8 seconds!
Gallery: The anonymous gallery has been updated with 9 new images.
CNN: The transcript of my interview on Anderson Cooper's 360. BTW, the camera adds 20 pounds of fat and 40 pounds of ugly.
Bug Books: Bug Books by Caroline Parr.
The magicicada Yahoo! group: I started two polls, which you can participate in: 1) What happened to all the cicadas we were supposed to see? and 2) Long Island: why was the emergence so disappointing? You'll need to signup, but I think it's worth it.
Web site: Gerry's Magicicada Website: stories, pictures, video and more.
Web site: Very cool Tibicen photos from Eugene V.

7/13/2004: Yes Virginia, there is more than one kind of cicada! Most of the news and information on this site is about Magicicadas -- those exceptional cicadas which arrive in select locations once every 17 or 13 years -- HOWEVER there are literally hundreds of other varieties of cicadas. One of North America's most popular type of annual cicada is the Tibicen. Visit Roy Troutman's Gallery of Tibicen cicadas.

7/11/2004: More videos, the sounds of summer cicadas, and melancholy in Long Island.

NEW Video: A Magicicada Performing a *Natural Function* filmed by Roy Troutman.
NEW Video: A Tibicen chloromera climbing up my arm (1996) filmed by Dan
NEW Video: Princeton Magicicadas filmed by Dan
Tibicen sounds: now that summer is here, a few people have asked what the summer time cicadas like Tibicens sound like. I've found some excellent recordings on the web. Here's how to get to them:
1. Visit Cicada Central. Once there, click on "North America", then "Species". Scroll to the bottom of that page and you'll find many links to Tibicen pictures and sounds.
2. Visit Singing Insects of North America.
Long Island: More on the emergence from Lenny L: "I saw the final results that you posted for the Brood X emergence. Besides Deer Park, there were two other confirmed minor emergences on Long Island. One was in East Setauket, also around May 22. Long Island Newsday printed an article about it, and I checked the area and found a skin and a few holes. There was also a late emergence in Oakdale (Connetquot State Park). Magicicada were heard by very knowledgeable park staff on Thursday and Friday, June 17 and 18. Both emergences were very minor, and the cicadas were predated in less than a week." Thanks Lenny.
What do you think happened to Brood X? I started a poll titled "What happened to all the cicadas we were supposed to see?" for the Yahoo! magicicada group. Sign up for the Yahoo! magicicada group and let your opinions be known.
More to come: in the next few weeks we're going to add more galleries, more video, and some new cicada shirts. Stay tuned!

7/5/2004: "I want my Magicicada TV!"

Video: Now that the cicada mania has calmed down we have the bandwidth to host some Magicicada video. The first two videos come from Cicada Mania regular Roy Troutman. Fix yourself a bag of hot-buttered nymphs, tune into Magicicada TV, and enjoy!
Website: Singing Insects of North America is a HUGE web site dedicated to cicadas, katydids and crickets. There is an IMMENSE amount of information on that site, but you kind of have to dig to find it.
Photos: Great cicadas photos from Indiana by Mike Gasser.
Photo: A cool Magicicada photo by Alex Carmichal.

7/2/2004: The Find the Blue-eyed Cicada Contest is over, and we have 70 winners! Four winners get Blue-eyed cicada shwag from Cafe Press, and the rest get a cool Blue-eyed cicada button. See the winning entries!

7/2/2004: Four new Magicicada galleries, pictures of the cicada keychains, more links, and the 2004 Magicicada emergence report.

NEW! Gallery: Mark Goldberg
Maryland Magicicada Gallery.
NEW! Gallery: Michael Malsam
Magicicada Gallery.
NEW! Gallery: Anonymous
Magicicada Gallery.
NEW! Gallery: The McShane Family in Towson, Md
Magicicada Gallery.
Keychain: Big pictures of the cicada keychain. Thanks Roy!
Emergence Report: We compiled a report of all the Magicicada sightings reported to Cicada Mania in 2004. It's sorted by city, state and by date. For more reports go to Cicadas.info
News: NBC 4: Cicada Sightings Fade Away. The mention Cicada Mania too!
News: Richmond Times Dispatch: GARDENING Q&A: Brown oak branches may be work of cicadas.
Old News: NPR: The Cicadas Are Coming!. An article from 4/30 -- is it too soon to be nostalgic?

6/28/2004: A new Magicicada gallery, an MP3, a new Magicicada Yahoo! group, and insect art from artist Spinsekt.

NEW! Gallery: Jim Occi 2004
Princeton University Magicicada Gallery.
Speaking of Princeton, here's an MP3 sound file of the emergence in Princeton (1.5MB).
Laura has created a new Magicicada Yahoo! e-group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magicicada/. Join today and discus cicadas with other cicada maniacs.
Cool insect artwork from artist Spinsekt, and thanks to gallery Hang.

6/26/2004: Six new cicada photo galleries, another cicada keychain clue, and cicada desktop wallpaper. In most areas the Magicicadas are dead and rotten, but they won't be soon forgotten. The winners of the Blue-eyed cicada photo contest will be announced next Friday.

Gallery Mania: We have 6 new Galleries:
1. NEW! Mini Gallery: Dan Cicada Mania, first Tibicen of the year 2004.
2. NEW! Mini Gallery: Fred Berry, 2004 Adult Magicicada.
3. NEW! Gallery: Phil Smith 2004
  Two Magicicada photos from Indiana.
4. NEW! Gallery: Frank Mefford 2004
  Kentucky Magicicada Photo.
5. NEW! Gallery: Walter Hanig 2004
  Washington DC Magicicada.
6. NEW! Gallery: Steve Groh 2004
  Cincinnati Ohio Magicicadas.
Cicada Keychain: Julie found a company which manufactures the legendary cicada keychain. Four different colors too!
Cicada Wallpaper: Bob Mulligan has created cicada wallpaper for his Mac. You can use it on your PC as well.
Public Service Announcement: by now you've heard of Infected Web Sites (Yahoo Story, Netcraft) which infect personal computers when you visit them. I'm glad to say the various web servers the Cicada Mania site is hosted on are not susceptible to this kind of attack. For your own good, try a web browser other than the Internet Explorer. Lately I've been using Firefox for web browsing, and Thunderbird for reading email. Neither are susceptible to this kind of attack.

6/19/2004: Venus and cicadas, annual cicadas and the best cicada photos galleries from the message board. Cicadas still seem to be active in Ann Arbor MI, Princeton NJ, parts of Pensy and Indiana.

Venus or cicada: Check out Herman Heyn's photo capturing the Brood X emergence and a transit of Venus.
Web site: Nick's Cicada Gallery 2004. There are more than one variety of cicada in North America. Take a look at Nick's gallery of Annual cicadas. (thx Nick)
Cicada Musical: Here's a review of Cicada: The Musical.
Film Festival: We mentioned this before, but In honor of the departure of the cicadas, The Washington DCJCC's Urban Drive-In is featuring films from 1987 - the last time Brood X walked among us. Films are shown outdoors in July and August. Schedule of films and additional info at: www.dcjcc.org/arts/screeningroom/Urbandrive-in.php. (thx Josh)
Music Downloads: Souther Culture On the Skids's Cicada Rock and Big Smiths's Cicada Song. You'll need a special player to play them.
Today we had our 1800th post on the message board.

Links from the Message Board:

Gallery: 17 Year Cicadas in Ann Arbor. Posted by Mark Schoof on 6/14
Gallery: Erin's Web Page has many excellent microscope photos of cicadas. Posted by Erin on 6/9
Photo: Charlie the cicada. Posted by B. Marshall on 5/29
Gallery: 17-Year Cicada Emergence Photos May/June 2004 in Highland, Maryland. This site has the sound files you crave. Posted by Edward Delaplaineon 5/18
Gallery: Amazing Little Miracles. Posted by zappagirl 5/15
Gallery: Cicada Mania in Vienna, VA. Posted by SIPA 5/15
Gallery: Bloomington's Brood X cicada emergence. Posted by Kevin 5/13

6/13/2004: Annual Cicadas, Emergence Updates, the Truth about Locusts, other Cicada Web sites and a New Princeton NJ cicada shirt.

Annual Cicadas: Annual Cicadas of Arkansas is an excellent web site devoted to Tibicen cicadas which arrive annually in much of the United States. Those of you unfortunate enough to miss the Magicicada emergences will likely witness these cicadas later in the year. (thx Elias)
Emergence update: while the excitement is ending south of the Mason-Dixon line, areas in New Jersey and Ohio are hitting their peak, places like Ann Arbor MI and Punxsutawney PA are getting started, and L.I. might be bust. We'll see. For more specific action, see the Message Board.
Locusts?: A good explanation of why people call cicadas locusts by none other than Gene Kritsky. Adobe Acrobat PDF file. (thx AJay)
Web site: Cicada Fear is a funny and informative blog devoted to cicadas. They even have a picture of a cicada shaped cake! (thx Gaye)
Web site: Cicadas.info scrolled off this page and into the archives long ago, but it's another great cicada site that emerged this year. (thx Gaye)
Web site: The University of Maryland Home and Garden Information Center has an awesome cicada gallery including pics of a blue-green eyed cicada, cicada babies, and the rarest Genus of all: the Magicicowda. (thx Gaye)
Cicada Stuff: a number of people asked, "Why don't you link to this site". We do, in a few places, but we link to their "front door" instead. For more cicada goods and merchandise, see the Cicada Goods section of the Links page.

6/12/2004: Flagging, film festivals, new cursors and missing cicadas.

We're starting to get reports of flagging: when trees start to turn brown due to cicada egg laying. If this happens to you, don't give up on your trees. Even though they look awful, they typically don't die. To see a picture of flagging visit this gallery page.
New cursor! Roy Troutman took the time to create a blue-eyed cicada to accompany the original Cicada Mania cicada cursor. Download them both (2Kb ZIP), and find a competer geek to instal them for you.
Retro Film Fest: Screening Room's Urban Drive-In 1987 film fest in honor of Brood X. 1987 films, outdoors, oldschool-style, just like 1987.
Where are they: The cicadas have arrived! But, where are they? This is a question a lot of people have been asking. There are many theories: development & urban sprawl, pesticides, pollution, lousy weather and the English Sparrow.

6/9/2004: Cicadas emerge in Ann Arbor Michigan, photos from Princeton and more Jumbo cicada galleries.

Photos: Cicada photos from Princeton, NJ from Seth and Paul Rader.
Michigan: Cicadas awaken from long slumber: Local sightings are the first in the state (thx Frank).
More Jumbo Galleries: Blue and White eyed cicadas from Roy Troutman and Brood II photos from 1996 from the guy who runs this site.

6/8/2004: A great week for cicadas: with temperatures well into the 90s in most areas, this will be a great week to find and hear cicadas.

Photos: Cicada Invasion 2004 gallery from Celia Finsel.
Golf: A New York Times article about how the cicadas are making life miserable for pro golfers. Awwww. (thx AJay)
Comics: Cicada Comics.
News: Cicada lure has a glow about it. An article about the Photon cicada fishing lure.
News: CBS humorist checks out cicada invasion . This article gives you a good idea of what kind of fun cicada is available in Cincinnati. (thx Lisa)

6/5/2004: University of Connecticut NO LONGER NEEDS your help finding emerging cicadas! Thanks for all your help.

Two new bandwidth destroying galleries: Roy Troutman 2004 and Dan Cicada Mania 2004
New FAQs: What purpose do they serve? and Can they see?
Cicada Ale: it might take you a while to find it on this site, but KOSI 101 FM has a recipe for Cicada Ale in the Jo's Craft Corner of their site. Sounds like a recipe for the gout to me. (thx John)
Video: The Commander Cicada guy sent us this link to a WBAL news cast featuring Rob Roblin: Cicada Tracker: Cicadas Spreading Their Wings.
Photos: Kantor.com: Cicada Brood X - 2004 from Andrew Kantor.
Golf: Muirfield the summer home this year for cicadas. Cicadas disrupting pro golfers. (thx b1nge)
Candy: Cicada Chocolate Mold.
Princeton: Bugging the bugs: Students collect data on cicadas.
Interview (with me): Wedding Day Woes - A Bug's Life on Public Radio Weekend.
Blue-eyes Contest: We have about 100 photos so far, but don't worry there will be consolation prizes. Our contest is mentioned in this article: Abby finds her blue-eyed cicada.
Rory B. Egan, a professor of Classics at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, has written several articles involving cicadas in ancient Greek literature. His latest is entitled "Eros, Eloquence and Entomo-psychology in Plato's Phaedrus,". Contact Rory to obtain a copy. Rory can be reached at regan@Ms.UManitoba.CA

6/3/2004: Live in New Jersey or New York? Go to Princeton! Here's a Weather forecast for Princeton.

6/3/2004: Long Island, Pensy, New Jersey, and more music and photos as well.

Emergences: Cicadas continue to emerge in places like Lower Merion, PA (thx Bob), Lower Saucon Twp, PA (thx Shelly) and see the article below for Long Island.
Photos: The Great Washington, D.C. Cicada Invasion from John M. Esparolini.
Music: Download the Cicada Dance and Cicada Food song. ("Don't say I didn't warn you!" -- Dennis)
New Jersey residents: your best bet to see them is to go to Princeton, where they are all over the place. You won't see many outside of Mercer or southern Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon counties.
New York residents: your best bet to see them is to go to Princeton New Jersey, where they are all over the place. They are also starting to appear in Long Island, so keep an eye on the Message board, and read the Newsday article above.

5/31/2004: Blue-eyes on ebay, photos from Virginia and Indiana, music, a web cam and more..

Radio: New York and New Jersey, keep your ears peeled for a radio interview we did with WCBS 880's Wayne Cabot.
Blue-eyes: Blue-eyed cicada sold on ebay for $12.50. Now you know how much they're worth. (thx Russ).
Photos: Invasion of Cicadas & Friends: May 27th, 2004 - McLean, VA, from Norman Bercasio.
Photos: Brood X in Southern Indiana , from Janee.
Webcam: WCPO Cicada Webcam! (thx Roy)
Link: Baltimoresun.com's cicada package: every Baltimore Sun cicada article, all on one convenient page! Includes swat the cicada game. (thx Roy)

5/28/2004: Cincinnati cicada music.

Music: The Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce -- has joined in buzzi' unison with the MidPoint Music Festival to create the Official 'We Ain't Fraida The Cicada CD project. Seventeen Year Itch: Mating Calls of Cincinnati USA featuring music by four of Cincinnati's hottest bands! Check it out! (thx Raymond).
Photos and story: The FiveArmy's web site has plenty of great cicada pictures and a story to go with them.. (thx Will).
Photos: Plenty of great cicada photos from the Indiana emergence from John Knowles.
Merchandise: The Natural History Museum in Washington, DC is selling t-shirts, pictures and books about cicadas. (thx Shirley)

5/26/2004: President George Bush and a cicada, more music and photos.

Are you selling cicada stuff? If you are a store (not an online store) in the Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware or New Jersey areas and you're selling cicada merchandise, we want to know about it. Send us an email.
In the news: Yahoo! News: President George Bush and a cicada! (thx Robert).
Music: Have you been Hoppin' and Boppin' to the Cicada Hop?
Festivals: National Geographic: Cicada Fiestas: Top Places to Bug Out
Toys: BugToys.net has some interesting Cicada toys
Mounted Specimens: We're looking for a dealer of quality mounted cicada specimens. God of Insects looks like a solid candidate.

5/25/2004: The Contest: Find the Blue-eyed Cicada is progressing amazingly well.
So far we've had 6 legitimate cicada photos sent to us.

Blue-eyes: WTOP: Proof There Really are Blue-Eyed Cicadas (thx Les and Jane).
Blue-eyes II: WNBC: Boy Finds Rare Blue-Eyed Cicada: Arlington Boy Spots Unusual Bug (thx Heidi).
News: WNBC: Cicada Scare Leads To [car accident and] Flooded Street (thx Veronica).
Emergences: South Coventry, PA (thx Ray), Honey Grove PA (thx Gary), Deer Park LI NY (thx Paul). More on the board.
Rare sighting by Hal White: "At the last American Entomological Society meeting on April 28, Charles Bartlett noted that Magicicada cassini had not been recorded from Delaware. This morning (May 24, 2004) I collected a M. cassini perched on the front door of Brown Laboratory at the University of Delaware. It is considerably smaller than the other species and is entirely black on the underside of its abdomen."
Photos: Laurel City Maryland Cicadas 2004 from Tammy.
Photos: CICADAMANIA Russ Palarea, Laurel, MD 5/16/04 from Russ Palarea.

5/23/2004: Contest: Find the Blue-eyed Cicada

5/22/2004: Emergence update: Still waiting to hear from Long Island, NY: There's a possibility of Brood X cicadas emerging on Long Island. If you spot some, let us know.

Exhibit: For those of you in the DC area who can't get enough of the cicadas, The Smithsonian has an exhibit you can visit.
Photos: Louisville Cicadas 2004 Brood X from Melvin Merickle.
Photos from the New Jersey epicenter: cicadas invade Princeton university from Julie Angarone.
MP3 Music: Brood X (Magicicada septendecim) by George Fox.

5/21/2004: Emergence update: Macungie, PA, Carbon County PA, more on the message board.

Photo Essay: The Cicada that Ate Cincinnati from Carin Rhoden.
Photos: Cicada emergence - May 16, 2004 from Derek Dammann.
Photos: Cicadas 2004: phots from just north of Baltimore, MD from Ben Sugerman.
Photos: 17-Year Cicada Emergence Photos May 2004 in Highland, Maryland from Ted Delaplaine.
Photos: Cicadas in various stages of emergence from Bill Shvodian.
Photos: Cicada Invasion photos from Sam.
Photos: They're Here! Cicada photos by Chris Kram. Thanks Eric Mooney.
Photos: One Two pages of Virginia cicada photos from Tracy Lee.
Video: Cicada a cicada emergence set to music from Marc Bravo
Jewelry: Real cicadas, transformed into Jewelry, from Charlie Hines.
Link: Every Waskington Post cicada story all on one web page. Cicada convenience! (thx Wes)
Link: WNDU 16 Prepare for loud invasion of cicadas. (thx Roy)
Link: WAVE 3 Cicada Invasion Begins In Kentuckiana. (thx Roy)
Link: News Wise Urbanization Is Devastating 17-Year Cicadas. (thx Roy)
Link: Cornell Chronicle Finger Lakes cicadas' demise shows how urbanization devastates brood. (thx Roy)
Link: Wired News They're Here -- Cicada Cycle Fascinates U.S.. (thx Roy)
Link: BBC.com Trillions of bugs to invade USA. (thx Roy)
Link: Cincinnati Post Tasting cicadas a piece of cake. (thx Roy)
Link: Cincinnati Post Closer look at red-eyed invaders. (thx Roy)
Cicada fun fact: when they die, they smell really bad -- kind of like "land shrimp".
Emergence update: Macungie, PA (thx Linda), Carbon County PA (thx Derek)

5/20/2004:Cicada Mania was interviewed for and featured in this New York Times article. (registration required)

5/18/2004: Cicada Emergence 2004: hard to believe it's just begun.

Screensaver: A cool free Cicada X screen saver for Mac OS X from Skyrocket Software.
Photos: Sweet cicada pictures from Dan Henderson.
Music: Southern Culture on the Skids recorded "Cicada Rock" - great tune found on 1993 EP "Peckin Party" and on 1991 CD "Too Much Pork for Just One Fork". Thanks Alice!
NPR Audio Essay: Listen to Hearing Cicadian Rhythms, an essay by Naomi Lewin (scroll down the page to find it).

5/15/2004: CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed me on the 5/14/2004 episode of 360. Also on 5/14 I participated in a round table discussion of cicadas on Ira Flatow NPR's Science Friday. Patrick Jenkins of the Newark Star Ledger interviewed us for the 5/13 editon of that paper.

5/15/2004: Emergence Update: every state checks in. We had sighting reports from Illinois (thx Will), Michigan (thx Carolyn and Glenna), and Delaware (thx Lynn).

5/15/2004: Video, photos, music, fishing lures, jewelry and more!

Video: Awesome time lapse video of an emerging cicada from Kent Christian (thx David Marshall)
Photo: A Great photo of an emerging cicada from Alex.
Photos: Some unbeliveable cicada photos from Rich Wagner.
Photos: An awesome series of photos from Arthur Guilani
Photos: These are from 2003, but great none the less. Thanks Dottie.
Music: The band The Pheromones has released a song called "Cicada Serenade", a satirical rap about eating cicadas (thx Amy).
Fishing lure: Photon's glowing Cicada Fishing Lure.
Jewelry: A well detailed cicada necklace.
Cicada Mania was mentioned in an article on the Telegraph web site. We're getting press in England! (thx Sonja)

5/12/2004: Emergence Update: Every state but Illinois and Michigan has reported an emergence so far. Thanks to everyone who has reported in.

Cicada Mania was mentioned in this recent Washington Post article. (thx Dona)
A fun Which Cicada Are You? personality test.
Cicada Mania was mentioned in the Christian Science Monitor article Invasion of the teenage insects.
Check out the new book Cecily Cicada, written by Kita Murdock to help prepare her child for the current emergence. Perhaps your child would like it too.
The Ripe theater company needs your cicada skins! They're producing a cicada themed play and they need skins -- contact them if you can donate some. Speaking of cicada themed plays, don't forget to get your tickets for Cicada the Musical.
We were interviewed for the May 8, 2004 episode of Public Radio Weekend.
Too good not to share: Cicada-licious: cooking and enjoying periodical cicadas: the ultimate guide to cooking and eating cicadas. [Adobe Acrobat PDF]

5/11/2004: Emergence update: Princeton, NJ, Bethesda, MD, Takoma Park, MD, Silver Spring, MD, Randallstown, MD, Alexandria, VA. Awesome 2004 pictures from the Moshiem Tennessee emergence!
Add to the emergence list: Princeton, NJ (thx Kate), Bethesda, MD (thx Keith), Takoma Park, MD (thx Natalie), Silver Spring, MD (thx Matt), Randallstown, MD (thx Yolanda), Alexandria, VA (thx kamie). Many more on the Message Board.

Awesome 2004 pictures from the Moshiem Tennessee emergence! (thx Ron)

5/10/2004: Emergence update: Ohio, Bowie MD, Arlington, VA, Blairsville, GA, and Mosheim, Greene County, Tennessee.
Add to the emergence list: Ohio (thx Roy), Bowie, MD, (thx Brian W), Arlington, VA (Dustin), Blairsville, GA (thx Sierra), and Mosheim, Greene County, Tennessee (thx Ron)

5/8/2004: Emergence update: Washington D.C., Rockville and Fort Aberdeen, Maryland, East Tennessee .
Add to the emergence list: Washington D.C. (thx Angela G.), Rockville and Fort Aberdeen, Maryland (thx Joshua D. and David O.), and East Tennessee (thx Ron M).

17yearcicadas.com Brood X is coming! I dig the paperweight!
Bug Beater Mesh Jacket!

5/7/2004: The first emergence of 2004 was in Indiana.
So far we have Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia (thx Heidi and Roy).

5/5/2004: Emergence update: We have reports of emergences in TN and KY so far.

The Times (Trenton, NJ) :Buzzing abounds over cicadas (thx John)
Washington Post :Cicada Emergence by the Numbers. This article features an exceptional chart outlining the probability of a cicada emergence. (thx Mike)
Fort Wayne.com :Periodic cicadas to emerge from underground (thx Roy)
Skagit Valley Herald :Cicadas: Sauteed Or Eaten On The Fly. check out the dude with the plate of hot buttered cicadas. (thx Roy)
National Geographic News :Low-Fat, High Protein Cicadas: New Health Snack (thx Roy)
Cincinnati Post :Critters crawling out are cicada false alarm (thx Roy)
Public Opinion Chambersburgh :The cicadas are coming Big bug, bigger noise(thx Roy)
Bradenton.com :Periodic cicadas to emerge from underground(thx Roy)
Lafayette Journal & Courier :Forget The Cubs, Cicadas Are Emerging(thx Roy)
The Express Times Pennsylvania :Cicadas coming soon for six-week swoon(thx Roy)
Kentucky.com :Cicadas loud, smelly, but not all bad(thx Roy)
WCPO.com Cincinnati :Anticipation Grows As Cicadas' Debut Draws Near(thx Roy)
WAVY tv :Cicadas Ready To Engulf Eastern U.S.(thx Roy)
Storyhunters.com :Bugged By Love(thx Roy)
KFVS Heartland News :Summer cicadas to take Heartland by swarm(thx Roy)
MaconTelegraph.com :Noisy cicadas soon to make their return after 17-year hiatus(thx Roy)
ABC 7 :Health Officials: Cicadas Pose No Health Risk
News Channel 8 :Will insects swarm Connecticut?
13 WJZ :Cicadas Are Coming
Channel Cincinnati.com :Cicada Invasion: Break Out Tree Wrap, Bug Suits This Weekend: Are You Ready For Early Arrival?
NBC 4 :All About Cicadas
Cincinnati.com :Cicada an oddity among oddities
WTOP :Strathmore Arts Center where composer David Kane has been commissioned to write a Cicada Serenade: Love Song for Brood X
Channel Cincinnati.com :Cicada Invasion Just Days Away, Experts Say: Residents Encouraged To Take Last-Minute Steps

5/4/2004: Emergence update: Knoxville, TN

That's right, the Brood X emergence has begun in Knoxville, TN. (thx Marcia)

5/4/2004: The emergence has begun

On Monday we received our first emergence report (from Marcia). Stay tuned for more details.

5/4/2004: Another piece of the elusive Cicada Keychain mystery discovered!

Readers of this site know about our fascination with the elusive cicada keychain. Cartoonist Tom Stazer has an image of the packaging for the cicada keychain on his web site. Tom recalls buying the cicada toy from Archie McPhee. BTW, the Flash cartoon of the cat on Tom's site is absolutely hilarious.

5/1/2004: Cicada chimneys arise!

Here's a picture of what a cicada chimney looks like. Cicada chimneys are an indication that cicadas are about to emerge in your yard. Count them and estimate how many cicadas you can expect to see. Picture by Roy Troutman
Yahoo!: Pet Owners Warned of When Cicadas Emerge Don't let your pets gorge themselves on cicadas.

4/30/2004: Fox19's must see web page with many videos taken by Roy Troutman!

Fox19's: Roy's Cicada Videos.

4/30/2004: Cicada Mania interviewed and our not-so-secret identity exposed!

ToledoBlade.com: Cicadas' return signals a shrill summer season Noisy bug to emerge in Ohio after 17-year hiatus. We were interviewed for this one, but for the record, we didn't say this: "And don't worry if your dog, or even your child, eats one or two." (thx Jim and Roy)

4/30/2004: 27 new articles including a few about pets and cicadas, and a couple more about eating cicadas (All links from Roy unless otherwise noted.)

4/27/2004: 200,000 cicada maniacs can't be wrong
Cicada Mania served its 200,000th visitor so far this year.

4/24/2004: Cincinnati residents: check out the Snappy Cicada Pizza jingle (thx Roy).
It's a Cincinnati cicada thang. Download the MP3s today.

4/24/2004: The Washington Post's Express is available online as a PDF
Dowload it and read Helen Fields' "Cicada Survival Guide".

4/22/2004: Gene Kritsky interviewed by Cicada Mania!
Gene Kritsky is one of the foremost and most accessible cicada researchers in North America. Read our interview with Gene.

4/22/2004: 25 new cicada news stories including two about people eating cicadas!

nbc4.com News: Cicadas: What Are They? (thx Roy)
nbc4.com News: Cicadas Begin Emerging (thx Roy)
WBALChannel.com: Maryland Orchards Brace For Cicadas (thx Roy)
Washingtonpost.com: Cicada Chat (thx Mike)
National Geographic News: Cicada Fiestas: Top Places To Bug Out (thx Roy)
Shelbyville Sentinal News: Periodic Cicadas About To Emerge From 17 Year Sleep (thx Roy)
The Kentucky Standard: Country Could Feel Impact When 17-year Cicadas Emerege (thx Roy)
National Pest Management Association: Billions Of Bugs To Emerge After 17 Year Absence (thx Roy)
Jacksonville Daily News heading: 17 years between visits is not long enough (thx Roy)
Baltimore Sun heading: Ick! 'Looks Like A Bumper Crop (thx Roy)
The Cincinnati Enquirer: Cicadas: Few Can Forget The Invasion Of '87 (thx Roy)
TerraDaily: After a 17 Year Wait, Milllions of Locust-like Insects To Swarm Parts Of The... (thx Roy)
New Bern Sub Journal: Cicadas Aren't Planning To Make An Appearance (thx Roy)
WFIE Evansville: Big Brood Of 17 Year Cicada's Coming In May (thx Roy)
Pakistan Daily Times: Cicadas To Swarm Parts Of U.S. (thx Roy)
Jacksonville Daily News: Summer Sirens Not As Plentiful Along The Coast (thx Roy)
Kentucky.com: Cicadas: 'Well, At Least You Can Eat Them (thx Roy)
Greensboro News-Record.com: Cicada City (thx Roy)
The Cincinnati Post: Cicada Arrival Reports Untrue (thx Roy)

4/21/2004: Cicada Mania is the Feedster Feed of the Day for 4/21/2004.
Cicada Mania's RSS feed was chosen to be the Feedster Feed of the Day for 4/21/2004. This is quite an honor. Visit Feedster to explore all the RSS feeds the Net has to offer!

4/20/2004: Washington residents, look for Helen Fields' "Cicada Survival Guide"
"Hi - my little Cicada Survival Guide is supposed to come out in Express tomorrow. Express is the Washington Post's free tabloid. This being the news business, anything can change, but it looks likely. If anyone wants to pick it up, the people in yellow vests hand Express out for free at Metro stations" -- Helen Fields. Helen interviewed Cicada Mania for this.

4/15/2004: update. Yeeaaah!

4/13/2004: another important update

The Cicada the Musical site has been updated with lots of new content. As a reminder, the event happens June 4 & 5, 2004, so get your tickets early. (thx Paul)
Cicada Central's URL has changed, so update your favorites. The also have great New Zealand Cicada Central and Periodical cicada subsites. (thx Chris)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Advice to gardeners: Relax about those millions of bugs. Chill out, yo! (thx Roy)
Staten Island Advance: Don't sweat cicadas this year. (thx Roy)
TheHorse.com: Cicadas Are Coming--But Shouldn't Affect Horses. (thx Roy)
Quad City Times: Cicadas coming to yard near you. (thx Roy)

4/10/2004: A small, but important update

ChannelCincinnati.com: Cicada Pies
ChannelCincinnati.com: 'Ask Dr Kritsky questions about the upcoming emergence.' He will be answering the questions on Saturday, April 17th on WLWT Channel 5. (thx Roy)
Lee Feldman is a musician who recorded a song called 'Reluctant Cicada'. Check him out!
WCPO.com: 'Experts Predict Secondary Cicada Invasion' (thx Roy). Two! Two invasions... Muhahahaha!
The Cincinnati Enquirer: Add an extra 1 million voices to the choir. (thx Cathy and Roy)

4/7/2004: Another HUGE Update

4/6/2004: Another Massive Update

4/2/2004: More news:

WKRC's: Cicada Summer - What to know and what to do about Brood X (thanks Roy)
WLWT's: Tri-State Braces For Return Of Cicadas (thanks Roy)
Cincy Post's: 17 Years Of Cicada Lore: Our buggy city(thanks Roy)
Nova online: Animal Transformations (great movie of a cicada molting) (thanks Roy)
WHAS's: Invaasion of the cicadas (thanks Roy)
Cincinnati Enquirer: 17 Year Itch: Mating Songs of Cincinnati USA (thanks Roy
Here's an article on eating cicadas, called 'Desert Shrimp' (thanks Dan)
City Beat: How to enjoy the coming cicada infestation (featuring Gene Kritsky)

3/30/2004: More news:

Gazette: Don't bug out over bumper crop of cicadas this spring 'Brood X' poised to make 17-year appearance. (thanks Dan)
MSNBC: Day of the cicada comes to D.C. area. (thanks Roy)

3/28/2004: Gallery contributor Roy Troutman pointed out that we no longer have a link to the cicada cursor. Well here it is: A Cicada Cursor. Click here to download a ZIP file containing the cursor (1KB). The cursor works well with Windows 98, but to be honest I've never tested it on any other system, so employ it at your own risk.

3/22/2004: Assorted cicada links

3/20/2004: Can you believe all these articles?

3/18/2004: For people who use My Yahoo! and PDAs, we've added a Cicada RSS feed:

3/16/2004: Cicada the Musical. 'There will be 2 performances during what will probably be the waning days of the Brood X onslaught. June 3 & 4. In Cincinnati.' No kidding.

3/15/2004:Cicadas set to invade Cincinnati. (thanks Roy)

Yahoo has a nice map of the emergence.

3/13/2004: Back by popular demand.

3/12/2004: Curious about other insects? Try the Insectclopedia!

Yahoo! (thanks Mike).

2/25/2004: Check out Janet Stein Carter's Periodical Cicada website. It's among the best cicada sites.
2004 is going to be a HUGE year for Magicicadas. Use Google's News Search to keep up to date with the latest cicada articles on the web!

Research tip for the New Year: If you want to find information about cicadas on the web, but in a non-html document format like Excel (xls), Word (doc), PowerPoint (ppt) or Acrobat (pdf), do a filetype: search on Google. When you search, enter the search topic followed by "filetype:" and then the file extension -- so, if you wanted to search for PDFs that talk about magicicadas you would search for the phrase: magicicada filetype:pdf.

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