2008 was a busy year for 17 year cicadas across the USA. 17 year Magicicadas aren’t the only cicadas emerging in North America this year, in fact, there are many types of cicadas that emerge in North America every year all over North America.

The Tibicen is the genus of annual cicada most people are familiar with.

Here are some general details about Tibicen:

• They emerge every summer. They do not emerge in broods.
• They emerge in small numbers (small relative to periodical cicadas).
• They are timid and elusive compared to periodical cicadas.
• Most are physically larger than periodical cicadas.
• They are well camouflaged: their colors and patterns of colors help to hide them in their surroundings. They look like little military vehicles, IMHO.
• Colloquial names for Tibicens: August Dry Birds, Dog Day cicadas, Harvest Flies, Jar Flies, Bush Cicada (Tibicen dorsata)

Some cool Tibicen posts and pages you should check out:

• Cicada researcher Kathy Hill’s photo of 18 different Tibicen species.
• It is possible to identify Tibicen just after they have molted: a visual tool to identify freshly molted Tibicens by Paul Krombholz
• Tibicen anatomy page (offsite link).
• Macro videos of a Tibicen by Roy Troutman
• My Tibicen photos, including Marvin, the CicadaMania mascot.
• All Tibicen posts on this website.
• All Tibicen galleries.

An image from Roy Troutman:

My Tibicen video from 1996