Cicada Mania

Roy Troutman’s brother in law Gary spotted this Magicicada with an unusually light pronotum. Normally the pronotum features 2 dark/black patches. In this example they are almost non-existent.

Ever wonder how cicadas make the sound they make? Look no further than this article: What the buzz was all about: superfast song muscles rattle the tymbals of male periodical cicadas. You’ll final many paragraphs of information, but most importantly, macro photos, illustrations and even 3D models of working cicada muscles and membranes.

Thanks to Roy Troutman for this find.

Cicadas, particularly Magicicadas, can become infected with a fungal disease called Massospora cicadina. Believe it or not, it’s an STD.

Here’s a video from ‘91 showing a cicada suffering the affliction taken by Roy Troutman.

Video: Cicadas Return: MyFox Chicago. Thanks to Catherine Savage of the Lake County Forrest Preserves for the link.

Video: Bug Invasion: News 23.

Text: Cicadas crawl back after 17 years.

Text: ‘Magicicada’ expected to show up some time in June .

Text: The cicadas are coming!.

Not Brood XIII, but cicadas in general: Amateur Entomology: Insect Wing Nanostructure.

Thanks to Roy for some of the links.

I panicked the other day when Richard Fox’s excellent Tibicen anatomy page was down. I’m glad to say that it is back in service and that it is an incredible resource. Check it out if you want to learn more about a cicada’s parts.

Here’s two new videos from Roy Troutman:

These videos are up-close/macro videos. They’re awesome.

I came across this article thanks to Google’s news alerts: UC Engineering Researchers Find Mercury In Cicadas. I’ve never eaten a cicada and I don’t plan on doing so in the future, but a lot of “cicada maniacs” do, so here’s your PSA.

Think twice before you eat one of Cincinnati’s Brood-X cicadas. That’s the warning from researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering, who have found surprising levels of mercury in these insects.

So, what do cicada larvae look like???

First, here’s what their eggs look like. The mother cicada scratches a hole into a tree branch, and places in eggs in like a row of bananas.

When the eggs hatch, the cicadas don’t look like a grub or maggot as you might expect; instead they look like tiny termites or ants, with 6 legs and antennae.

Here’s photos of Ist Instar cicadas.

Better yet, here’s a video from Roy Troutman: