Cicada Mania

Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.

The Latest Cicada Happenings from Cicada Mania:

December 26, 2011

Brood I cicadas will emerge in Virginia and West Virginia in 2012

Filed under: Brood I,Magicicada — by @ 9:51 am

The Magicicada periodical cicadas belonging to Brood I (one) will emerge in western Virginia and eastern West Virginia in the spring of 2012. Brood I cicadas have a 17-year life cycle. Three species of periodical cicada will emerge: Magicicada cassini, Magicicada septendecim, and Magicicada septendecula.

Brood I is also called the Blue Ridge brood, because the emergence occurs in the Blue Ridge Highlands area. Brood I has historically emerged along RT 81 in Virginia, parts of George Washington National Forest, Jefferson National Forest, and around the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area in West Virginia. Visit the Brood I page on Magiciada.org for more information and maps.

Get ready…

Magicicada septendecim

December 22, 2011

Cicada Christmas Lights

Filed under: Pop Culture — by @ 3:58 pm

I made cicada Christmas lights using some LED USB Christmas lights, and some plastic cicada whistles from Australia.

CicadaMania Cicada Christmas Lights from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Cicada Christmas Lights

November 27, 2011

Cicadas and Christmas

Filed under: Pop Culture — by @ 8:03 am

There are a few connections between cicadas and Christmas. Cicadas are typically active around Christmas in the Southern hemisphere. Cicadas are called Christmas Beetles in South Africa. There is also a cicada named the Kobonga Christmas Clanger in Australia (thx David Marshall and Kathy Hill ):

Since Christmas is the time of gift giving, cicada books make great gifts for cicada enthusiasts, young and old. Ebay.com typically has thousands of cicada items, including actual cicadas, as does Etsy. You can buy cicada specimens online as well. And of course there’s a variety of Cicada Mania shirts and mugs to choose from.

I almost forgot the cicada skin Christmas wreath. :)

cicada Christmas

November 17, 2011

How to say cicada around the world

Filed under: Cicadas Misc. — by @ 6:06 am

Ever wonder how people say “cicada” around the world. According to Google Translate, here’s how to say “cicada” in 44 different languages.

Afrikaans: sonbesie
Albanian: gjinkallë
Armenian: ts’ikada (ցիկադա)
Belarusian: cykady (цыкады)
Bengali: Ucciṇṛē (উচ্চিংড়ে)
Bulgarian: tsikada (цикада)
Catalan: cigala
Chinese: Chán (蟬)
Croatian: cvrčak
Czech: cikáda
Dutch: cicade
Estonian: tsikaad
Filipino: kuliglig
Finnish: laulukaskas
French: cigale
Galician: cigarra
German: Zikade
Greek: tzitzíki (τζιτζίκι)
Gujarati: Tīḍa (તીડ)
Haitian Creole: sigal
Hindu: Sikāḍā (सिकाडा)
Hungarian: kabóca
Indonesian: jangkrik
Italian: cicala
Japanese: Semi (セミ)
Kannada: Rekkeya (ರೆಕ್ಕೆಯ)
Korean: maemi (매미)
Latvian: cikāde
Macedonian: cikada (цикада)
Malay: Cengkerik
Polish: cykada
Portuguese: cigarra
Romanian: greier
Russian: tsikada (цикада)
Serbian: cikada (цикада)
Slovak: Cikada
Slovenian: Cvrčak
Spanish: cigarra
Swedish: cikada
Tamil: Cil vaṇṭu (சில் வண்டு)
Thai: Cạkcạ̀n (จักจั่น)
Turkish: ağustosböceği
Ukrainian: tsykada (цикада)
Vietnamese: con ve sầu

November 7, 2011

Another Brazilian Cicada ID challenge

Filed under: Brazil — by @ 5:23 pm

Jairo from Cigarras do Brasil – Brazilian Cicadas website returns with more cicadas from Brazil for you to identify. Click each photo to arrive at larger versions of the image.

Cicada One

Cicada Three - 5553409171_9879d65083_b

Cicada Two

Cicada Three - 6261346967_fab2a2bf32_b

Cicada Three

Cicada Two - DSC02724

Cicada One - DSC02720

October 28, 2011

It is Cicada Season in Australia

Filed under: Australia — by @ 8:34 am

The cicada season in Australia lasts between September and May, but November and December are prime time for cicada emergences. Here’s a selection of Australian cicadas peaking in November, December and January.

Cyclochila australasiae / Green Grocer
Cyclochila australasiae / Green Grocer
1
Macrotristria angularis / Cherry Nose
Macrotristria angularis / Cherry Nose
2
Cystosoma saundersii / Bladder cicada
Cystosoma saundersii / Bladder cicada
3
Pauropsalta mneme
Pauropsalta mneme
4
Lembeja paradoxa / Bagpipe cicada
Lembeja paradoxa / Bagpipe cicada
5
Diemaniana euronotiana
Diemaniana euronotiana
6
Arunta perulata / White Drummer
Arunta perulata / White Drummer
7
Psaltoda moerens / Redeye cicada
Psaltoda moerens / Redeye cicada
8
Thopha saccata / Double Drummer
Thopha saccata / Double Drummer
9

Adding a Thompson’s Floury Baker (Abricta curvicosta)10 at David’s recommendation:

Thompson's Floury Baker (Abricta curvicosta)

  1. Cyclochila australasiae can be found in eastern Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and most emerge in October and November (1 Moulds, M.S.. Australian Cicadas Kennsignton: New South Wales Press, 1990, p. 61.).
  2. The Cherry Nose cicada can be found in Eastern Queensland, NSW, and a small part of South Australia, and is most common during November & December (2 ibid, p. 95.).
  3. The Bladder Cicada can be sound in eastern Queensland & NSW, and are most common Nov-Jan. (3 ibid, p. 193.)
  4. The Pauropsalta mneme can be found in south-eastern NSW, Victoria, and a small pocket in South Australia, from late September to early January. (4 ibid, p. 131.)
  5. The Bagpipe cicada can be found in the Northern tip of Queensland, from October to February, but they’re most common during January. (5 ibid, p. 178)
  6. The Diemaniana euronotiana can be found in eastern NSW, south-eastern Victoria and Tasmania. They are most common in late November to January. (6 ibid, p. 112)
  7. The White Drummer cicada can be found in eastern Queensland and NSW, from November to April, but they are most common during December and January. (7 ibid, p. 58)
  8. The Redeye cicada can be found in eastern NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, and are most abundant in late November and December. (8 ibid, p.75)
  9. The Double Drummer can be found in parts of eastern Queensland and Eastern NSW, from November to early March. (9 ibid, p.55)
  10. The Floury Baker can be found along the coast of Queenland & NSW. Adults are most common in late December and January. (10 ibid, p.119)

Get Australian Cicadas on Amazon.

October 26, 2011

A new cicada video: Cicada Toys, Art, Action Figures, Lures, Keyrings, Soda and other Objects

Filed under: Pop Culture — by @ 1:11 pm

I had some free time today so a made a video of the cicada-related objects I’ve collected over the past 15 or so years. The video includes cicada noise makers, whistles, action figures, a music comp, a kite, cicada soda, rubber toys, fishing lures and other fun stuff.

Cicada Toys, Art, Action Figures, Lures, Keyrings, Soda and other Objects from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

More cicada video.

Cicadas serenaded the dinosaurs

Filed under: Cicada Anatomy,Gene Kritsky — by @ 10:15 am

Apparently cicadas serenaded the dinosaurs! Entomologist and Mount St. Joseph professor Gene Kritsky shared the news today that cicadas lived as long as 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.

A quote from a press release:

New research has documented that cicadas, those noisy insects that sing during the dog days of summer, have been screaming since the time of the dinosaurs.

A fossil of the oldest definitive cicada to be discovered was described by George Poinar, Jr., Ph.D., professor of zoology at Oregon State University and Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., professor of biology, at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. The cicada, measuring 1.26 mm in length, was named Burmacicada protera.

Read the full Press Release on the MSJ website.

Here is a photo of the ancient Burmacicada protera cicada nymph trapped in amber. Photo credit: George Poinar, Jr., Ph.D.

Burmacicada protera. Copyright of George Poinar, Jr.

It looks a lot like a modern-day first-instar cicada nymph.

Update: Here’s a video news story about Gene’s fossil find.

I need a step-up my fossil collecting hobby. It looks like there’s some places in New Jersey to find fossils. Maybe I’ll find a cicada.

October 22, 2011

What’s next for Cicada Mania?

Filed under: Cicada Mania,CicadaMania.com — by @ 2:35 pm

Autumn (in North America) is usually a slow time for cicadas and this Cicada Mania website, so I have time to clean stuff up and decide what to do next to the site.

Now I turn to you, cicada fans, enthusiasts, and researchers: what would you like to see more of (or less of) on CicadaMania.com ? Please share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.

Looking forward, there’s the Brood I emergence next year in Virginia and West Virginia which should generate some buzz, and then Brood II in 2013 in the east which should be a big event.

September 11, 2011

Fukushima radiation possibly impacting cicadas in Japan

Filed under: Japan — by @ 11:11 am

Update: @Zi_kade on twitter (he’s a cicada expert in Japan) said that these deformities were caused by wind. Good news.

Radiation from the Fukushima reactor is possibly impacting cicadas in Japan. I say possibly, because I don’t know for sure, but the following articles infer that radiation is playing a part in cicada deformities and complications during eclosing (when they shed their nymph skins and become adults). Looks like about 20% of cicadas are affected in the study mentioned in the articles. It will be interesting to see how this story plays out. If the affected cicadas were in areas that flooded during the tsunami, it could be their bodies were damaged by water soaking the ground or flooding their tunnels.

Breaking News: Radiation has started attacking DNA.

Photos of possibly affected cicadas:

奇形ゼミ続出、放射性物質は原発から300km地点にまで大量降下した.

奇形ゼミ続出、放射性物質は原発から300km地点にまで大量降下した.

Use Google Translate http://translate.google.com/ if you can’t read Japanese.

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