I felt bad about always using an illustration of North American cicadas, so I made a Green Grocer cicada for Australian fans.
Get this image on a shirt, mug or even a pillow case via CafePress (the mugs are the most affordable).
January 20, 2015
June 21, 2014
The Cicada Cursor is back!
Here’s something for Windows users: cicada cursors.
If you like to customize your PC, you can swap out your cursor with a cursor shaped like a cicada. 
Download the cicada cursor it today (download and unzip).
Here’s a tutorial for changing your cursor.
I have no idea if you can change the cursor on a Mac or mobile device.
Update! Try the new Magicicada cursor (.cur file in .zip file)! 
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October 10, 2013
Winter cicada projects
Between now and the spring, I have to spend some time labeling the unlabeled species of cicadas on my site.
Various Tibicen Species
- Various Tibicen
- A molting Tibicen
- A molting Tibicen
- Tibicen exuvia and adults. Adults are T. tibicen.
- Tibicen nymphs and adults
- A teneral Tibicen, possibly a T. pruinosus
- A molting Tibicen, nymphs and adults
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June 17, 2013
Any German Cicada Fans?
Any cicada fans who speak German, or are in Germany?
Sonja Beeker of the German radio program Neonlicht interviewed me last week. You can download the mp3 of the video from this page. It was my favorite interview of the season, believe it or not.
Here is a description:
Sie sind so klein. Aber sie machen einen ohrenbetäubenden Lärm. Schon eine einzige Zikade reicht, um einem den Schlaf für die Nacht zu rauben. Was aber, wenn Milliarden von Zikaden nach 17-jähriger Reifezeit schlüpfen und über die USA herfallen? Dann wird’s laut. Ein bisschen eklig. Vielleicht aber auch lecker. Wie man’s nimmt. Unsere Reporterin hat ein paar Ostküstenbewohner besucht, die sich auf die Plage vorbereiten.
April 1, 2013
Cicada Mania is not shutting down
I had my April Fool’s Day fun, except Cicada Mania fans are smart folks and figured it out immediately.
After 17 years I am shutting down Cicada Mania. I am starting a new site Fulgoridae Frenzy. twitter.com/cicadamania/st…
— Cicada Mania (@cicadamania) April 1, 2013
Also, Hipster Cicada made an appearance:
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March 28, 2013
Cicada Pins and Magnets
One way I have fun during cicada emergences is designing unique cicada buttons. This year I have magnets too.
I have more cicada pins in the store. Check them out.
The 17-Year Itch
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August 21, 2012
Cicada Mania News
Saturday the BBC stopped by Cicada Mania headquarters to interview me for a Periodical Cicada episode of their show Nature’s Weirdest. The episode will also feature Dr. Gene Kristsky, and other cicada experts. The show will air in January, and hopefully end up on NetFlix, BBC America or YouTube sometime after that. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019f6kv Here’s a photo of the amazing crew that interviewed me:
Also, my friends David and Claire gave me this very nice cicada whistle from Peru:
October 22, 2011
What’s next for Cicada Mania?
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.
May 5, 2011
The Legendary Lucky Cicada Keychain
Update (5/2011): I finally found one of these keychains, but I’m going to keep looking for more. Plus we have, Packaging scans from Ben, Packages and images found by Roy, and a scan from an Archie McPhee catalog from Suzanne M.
Once or twice a year someone e-mails Cicada Mania asking if we know where to
find the cicada keychain — you know, “the one that buzzes”. Although there
are many keychains which feature
cicadas (e.g. trapped in amber),
I’ve never found the cicada keychain online.
I haven’t found these in stores since Clinton was in office. Back in the day,
you could find them in mall stores like “The Nature Company”, “The Science Nook”
and “The Planet Store”. Once, in the late 90’s I asked the manager of one of these
stores about the these
keychains and she said: “we don’t carry them any more, the last batch was defective”.
She seemed angry that I even asked her about them. I wish I knew more. Maybe these
stores lost so much money because of these defective key chains that they all went
out of business? Or maybe they didn’t sell enough whale song CDs, glow-in-the-dark
moon stickers, or mystical crystals to pay the rent?
I’ve spent way too much time looking for these keychain online, and I’ve
pretty much given up hope.
- I’ve searched numerous online stores that specialize in novelties and keychains.
- I’ve e-mailed these stores requesting that they stock these keychains — but I get no response.
- I’ve searched ebay.
- I’ve spend hours doing Google searches.
There are two problems with searching for stuff like this online:
- Search engines have a hard time indexing online stores (for technical reasons
I won’t waste your time with), and… - Who knows how people would describe these things?
Are they keychains, key chains, keyrings, or key rings? Are they cicadas, locusts,
insects or bugs? Do they buzz, chirp, scream, or beep?
While searching for cicada keychain:
- Apparently
one is hidden as a prize in a “Geocaching” scavenger hunt. - The wrong cicada
keychain. - Here’s a story that mentions
the cicada keychain.
Online stores I’ve searched include:
More photos of the cicada keychain here: Cicada Keychain Photos.
Update: I recently tried to get the CEO of Archie McPhee to reintroduce this product:
@cicadamania As we are synced with Nature as well, we can only offer the singing cicada keyring every 17 years.
— Mark Pahlow (@mcpheeceo) May 13, 2014