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…

Brood XIX emergence update

Looking at the Magicicada.org emergence map it appears that the cicadas have emerged everywhere they’re expected to emerge.

The next question is, when will they be gone? Local emergences typically last between four to six weeks, starting from the first emerging nymph, to the last dead cicada. I wouldn’t expect any cicadas around today to be around on Independence Day. Their corpses will be around though – so don’t forget to rake them up.

White Eyed Cicada Contest

The White Eyed Cicada Contest is over and 10 people won I Love Cicada pins. See all the winning entries. Congratulations to Joey Simmons of Nashville, TN, Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN, Serena Cochrane of Gerald MO, Melissa Han of Nashville TN, Jane and Evan Skinner of Troy MO, Phyllis Rice of Poplar Bluff MO, Jack Willey of Nashville TN, Chris Lowry of Nashville TN, Nathan Voss of Spring Hill TN, and Paul Stuve of Columbia, MO.

Cicada Videos

The Kenyon Media Group produced this video that demonstrates the cicada’s affinity for the sound of power tools. Educational and hilarious. You must watch it. Cicadas are attracted to the sound of power tools and lawn maintenance equipment because they think the sound is coming from other cicadas.

Do you like cicada song parodies? This song parodies Faith Hill’s song Breathe but it’s called Breed. Not sure who the singer is, but she’s fantastic.

This news report from CBS is pretty good, as far as cicada news reports go. It features John Cooley of Magicicada.org, and Elias Bonaros‘ live Magicicada collection. “Betty Nguyen reports from Simpson, Ill on the return of cicadas – as part of their normal, 13-year cycle – and a young boy’s fascination with the bug”. Sorry no embedded video.

Cicada Humor

Rest in Peace Nashville Cicada on Twitter. @TNCicada – his corpse is rotten, but he won’t be soon forgotten.

True story: someone called the police on the cicadas. Who drops a dime on a decim?

Eating Cicadas

Sadly, Sparky’s Ice Cream has sold out of their cicada flavored ice cream.

The art of eating cicadas. Just don’t choke on them.

Cicada Tea! I pity the person who drinks cicada tea!

Brood XIX emergence update

Every state is accounted for except for Louisiana at this point. Roy Troutman was able to confirm the appearance of Magicicadas in Indiana, and a pocket of Magicicadas were discovered in Maryland. See Team Cicada’s Facebook Page for more information.

There have been a number of reports from Kansas, but that might be Brood IV (a 17 year variety) stragglers emerging 4 years early, or perhaps Brood IV(4) is accelerating to join Brood XIX.

White-eyed Cicada Contest

There’s been two more winners in our White-Eyed Cicada Contest:

Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN:

and Serena Cochrane of Gerald MO:

Cicada Videos

A Six Story Wall of Cicadas! This is what happens when you put a building there trees once were.

Cicada Rain. An amusing video of cicadas urinating. No relation to Chocolate Rain. Cicadas urinate to express excess liquid. The video describes the fluid as sugar sweet, which could be because the cicadas are taking on Phloem sap, which contains sugar; cicadas typically feed on Xylem sap, which does not.

Captive 13-year cicadas laying eggs and mating. A great video from Nick Yielding featuring cicadas he’s captured mating and laying eggs. If you want to find out how to maintain cicadas in captivity, check this video out.

Cicada Humor

Nashville singer/songwriter Kathy Ashworth is back with a music video for her song Sicka Cicadas:

Eating Cicadas

I’ve been keeping an eye on cicada emergences for about 15 years now, and 2011 is definitely the year of people eating cicadas. I’ve seen news stories featuring people preparing them in many different ways, including chocolate dipped but this story takes the cake, literally German German Chocolate Cicada Cake.

Here’s a run down of some of the best Brood XIX cicada news and multimedia from the week.

Emergence status:

It appears that Brood XIX’s emergence is now underway in every state they were supposed to emerge in, with the exception of Louisiana, but that could be that no one has reported in from Louisiana yet. You can see the progress of the emergence on Magicicada.org’s 2011 Brood XIX Map. I’m starting to hear that the emergence is winding down in Georgia, while it’s just getting started in Illinois.

Brood XIX is truly the first periodical cicada emergence where social media (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo) became the primary method that people used to share and learn about cicada news and media. The Cicada Mania Facebook Page has been very active all throughout the emergence with many people sharing excellent photos and videos. I’ve been sharing the latest cicada news stories on the CicadaMania Twitter feed. If you want to keep up with the latest cicada news stories, Twitter is a great place to start.

The first white eyed cicada

Here is the first image of a white-eyed Brood XIX cicada that I’ve seen. The credit goes to biologizer on Flickr.

If you’re on Flickr, you can add your photos to the Cicada Photos group, or if you simply want to see all the cicada photos showing up daily, search for cicadas.

The first Cicada Mania Brood XIX gallery

Thanks to David Green of North Eastern Arkansas for these photos of a Magicicada tredecassini.

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Time Lapse videos of cicadas eclosing

A couple of time lapse videos of a cicada eclosing (leaving their old skin and becoming an adult) caught my eye:

Interview of the Week

Dr. John Cooley of Magicicada.org was interviewed by Ira Flatow on Science Friday. Listen to the interview.

Cicada Humor

Singer / Songwriter Kathy Ashworth wrote a song called Sick of Cicadas, which you can listen to on her website.

This A Basic Guide to the Meaning of the Letters on Cicada Wings (pdf) will help you… figure out what the letters that appear on cicada wings mean.

More cicada videos

Here are some cicada videos that really stood out:

What else

If you want to send in a cicada news story, video, etc, email us at cicadamania@gmail.com or find us on twitter at @cicadamania.

A word from our sponsor: The best way to remember a cicada emergence is with cicada apparel or mugs, or a book about cicadas.

The Brood XIX emergence is well underway in most Southern states and it’s just getting started in Missouri and Illinois. Here’s a list of topics that will help you through the remainder of the emergence.

Cicadas and Temperature

Cold weather across the U.S. seems to have slowed the Magicicada emergence. It is true that cold temperatures will deter nymphs from emerging, and stop adult cicadas from flying around and singing. Cicadas are “cold blooded” so they rely on air temperature and direct sunlight to warm up, and unless their bodies are warm enough, they won’t be able to fly, sing and mate. The black skin color of Magicicadas helps them warm up, just like how a black leather seat in a car gets hot to the touch in the summer.

Soil temperature is one of the indicators of when periodical cicada nymphs will begin to leave the ground. Typically they will start to emerge once the soil temperature reaches 18°C / 64°F or warmer.

Their body temperature needs to be a little warmer than that to fly. Their minimum flight temperature (MFT) is 18-21°C / 65-70°F. The temperature varies depending on the Brood and species. They’ll need a few more degrees before they’re fully functional, and start singing and mating.

Maximum voluntary tolerance temperature (MVT) for periodical cicadas is 31-34°C / 88-93°F, again depending on Brood and species. Maximum voluntary tolerance is the point at which cicadas seek shade and when thermoregulation takes precedence over other behaviors.

So, until their bodies are about 72°F (“room temperature”) they won’t be flying, sining and mating.

See Thermal responses of periodical cicadas: within and between brood parity (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada spp.) and Thermoregulation by Endogenous Heat Production in Two South American Grass Dwelling Cicadas (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Proarna) for more information.

The damage they do

Cicadas don’t cause dammage to trees by chewing leaves like other insects to. Instead the damage is caused because they lay their eggs in grooves in the branches of trees. Cicadas are technically parasites of the trees, and they need the trees to survive throughout their entire life cycle, so killing trees is not in the cicadas best interest.

The weakest limbs of a tree are often temporarily damaged or killed off, the result of which is called flagging, as the leaves of the branch will turn brown and look like a flag. They are doing the trees a favor by pruning their weakest branches.

Young trees, ornamental trees and fruit trees will be more prone to damage as they are typically smaller and weaker than older native hardwood trees. I recommend placing netting around these trees and picking the cicadas off by hand, if you’re concerned. Spraying them off the trees with a hose seems to work as well. I don’t recommend filling a bucket with cicadas and dumping them in your neighbors yard, as they can fly back to your yard, and your neighbor will become enraged.

The blue tape works well too: check out this photo of cicadas that can’t make it past the tape.

Grooves made by a cicada:

An image of Flagging caused by cicadas:

Do cicadas stink?!

Cicadas do stink, but only once they’re dead and rotting, like most creatures. When you get a pile of dead, wet cicadas they can kick up a serious funk, like putrefying bacon. It’s best to rake up their corpses ASAP, shovel them into a bucket or wheelbarrow, and then bury them, compost them, or use them for catfish or critter bait. Individual cicadas make excellent fish bait.

What do cicadas eat?

Cicadas don’t eat by chewing up leaves; instead they drink their meals. Cicadas use their mouthparts to tap into trees and drink tree fluids called xylem. Occasionally you’ll see cicadas piercing a branch with their mouthparts to take a drink. They aren’t particularly smart, and occasionally mistake people for trees. Luckily cicadas are not venomous.

Do cicadas pee?

Yes, cicadas regularly pee to eliminate excess fluid. Allow me to recommend wearing a cicada hat.

Are cicadas attracted to the sound of lawnmowers and other machinery?

Yes, cicadas are attracted to the sound of lawnmowers, weed wackers, hedge trimmers, etc. Female cicadas think that these machines are males singing, and male cicadas show up to join the other males in what we call a “chorus”.

Why are there so many periodical cicadas?

Their strategy is called “predator satiation”. They reproduce by the millions in order to fill predators up. The idea is that all the squirrels, birds, possums, snakes, lizards, raccoons, varmints, teenagers and other predators will be so full of cicadas and tired of eating them, that a just enough cicadas will escape and get to mate and reproduce.

Think of it this way: Aunt Betsy and Uncle Steve always show up to the barbecue and eat up all the best cuts of meat; few if any meat escapes them. What you want to do is fill Betsy and Steve up with cheap snacks like pork rinds, chips and Coke, so some of the meat will escape their grasp.

How long do they live?

Adults can live a few weeks, but they often don’t get to live that long, as many are born crippled, they get infected with mold, they run out of energy, they get eaten, etc.

An emergence can last locally up to 6 weeks from start to finish. They should all be dead six weeks after you see your first cicadas.

About 98% of cicadas die within the first two years of life. Imagine if they all survived to adulthood! There would be 4800% more of them.

What eats them when they’re underground?

When they’re underground they’re often eaten by moles, but enough of them escape the moles to survive.

Stragglers

If you have a lot of cicadas today, chances are you’ll have a couple next year. Not a lot, just a couple that forgot to emerge this year.

Other ideas to help you enjoy Brood XIX

• You can try one of the cicada experiments.
• You preserve them in lucite. Here’s a basic how to article.
• You can save their nymph skins or wings, as those parts don’t rot as easily at the body.
• You can color a cicada with crayons or markers, or just draw your own.
• You can make cicada inspired crafts and sell them on etsy.
• Spend an afternoon reading cicada research papers on Cicada Central.
• Report your cicada sightings to Magicicada.Org.

Most of the periodical cicadas you’ll see have red or reddish-orange eyes. A very small number, however, have white, blue, or yellow eyes. Some even have amazing multi-colored eyes. Have you seen any white eyed periodical cicadas yet? Be on the look out for them, and make sure you take a photo or video when you see one. Have a contest with your friends and family to see who can find the first white or blue eyed cicada. If you have a TV station, radio show or local website, you could have a contest for who can find the first white eyed cicada. I personally have only found one white eyed cicada (video below), so I have to guess that the odds are at least one in 10,000.

Here’s a photo of a white eyed Magicicada cicada Roy Troutman found back in 2007:

Roy took a photo of a blue eyed cicada, and I made a t-shirt from the image (I use the mug version for my morning coffee).

This is a video of white eyed cicada I recorded back in 2007:

All photos of periodical cicadas with different color eyes.

There are many interesting aspects of a periodical cicada emergence, including the length of time they spend underground, their massive numbers, their visual appearance, their amazing songs, and the variety of reactions people have to the cicadas. One of most amazing things you can witness during a cicada emergence is to watch cicadas emerge from the earth as nymphs, crawl up a tree, shed their skins, spread their wings and become adults.

Periodical cicadas will typically emerge over a period of several days. If you discover that cicadas have emerged in your yard by finding their skins (exuvia) or adult cicadas, chances are good more cicadas will emerge later that night. Filming a night-time cicada emergence is an excellent opportunity to use your HD Camcorders, Macro camera settings, and other technology you normally don’t get to use.

Here’s a guide to finding cicadas at night and ideas for filming them:

1. Be prepared: Get your flash lights ready. Read the manual for your camera to learn about its night time settings, HD settings, Macro settings, etc. Make sure your camera is charged.
2. Once the sun sets, head outside with your flash light and camera. Carefully walk around beneath the branches of trees, shining your flashlight towards the ground. Cicada nymphs live along the entire root system of a tree, so they can emerge 15 or more feet away from the trunk. Watch this video of cicada nymphs to see what to look for. Listen: you can actually hear them walk through the grass and up the bark of a tree.
3. Once you’ve spotted nymphs, you can start filming. I usually aim my flashlight at them, and then let the flash in my camera light them up for the photo.
4. Once a nymph crawls up the tree, and finds a part of the tree that it likes, it will emerge from its skin and become an adult. The process of completely becoming an adult takes several hours, so this is a good opportunity to make a time-lapse movie.

Here is a series of stills from a movie Roy Troutman made of an eclosing Magicicada:

Step 1: The nymph grabs hold of a leaf

Nymphs will crawl around until they find a place to grab hold of with their tiny tarsal claws. Usually they find part of a tree branch or leaf. Sometimes they find a car tire, a brick wall or a barbecue.

Step 2: The back of the cicada splits open, and the cicada pushes itself out.

The skin of the nymph splits open along the middle of its back, all the way up to its head. The cicada then pushes itself out back-first. You’ll notice that the cicada is white in color with two black spots on its back. At this point the cicada’s body is very soft — until a cicada’s body has hardened, we call them teneral, which means soft or tender in Latin.

Step 3: With its abdomen anchored in the nymph skin, the cicada curls back, freeing its legs and spiracles.

The spiracles are the holes through which the cicada breathes. You’ll notice fine white strands connected to the nymph skin — those were once connected to the spiracles.

Step 4: The cicada curls forward, grabs hold of its former skin, and frees its abdomen

Step 5: The cicada crawls away from its old skin and prepares inflate its wings

Step 6: The cicadas wings fill with fluid and expand

The cicada inflates its wings using haemolymph, a blood-like fluid also used to transport nutrients in a cicada’s body.

Now, watch the entire video:

Step 7: The color of the cicada darkens and its body hardens

Once the cicada has expanded its wings, the cicadas will turn their final color and their bodies and wings will harden. Once the body and wings are sufficiently hardened, they are able to fly and sing.

The “finished product” looks like this:

I hope you have the opportunity to watch a night time cicada emergence! It can be a lot of fun.

13-year cicada – brood XIX, originally uploaded by myriorama.

The first photo I’ve seen of Brood XIX Magicicada so far in 2011. Appears to be a Magicicada tredecim.

Abbeville County, South Carolina

You can see this insect on Bug Guide as well.

Update (4/19): here’s the second photographed adult. This one is from Virgina I believe. Right now adults should be showing up here and there, but it won’t be for a few more weeks before things get crazy.

Update (4/26): there’s lots of Brood XIX photos showing up on Flickr now. I started a Brood XIX Gallery in an effort to keep track of them.

Roy Troutman provided this video featuring a Magicicada nymph 12 day transformation before final molt. It’s an excellent view of what nymphs look like right before they emerge from the ground and become adults.

Magicicada nymph 12 day transformation before final molt! from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.

What are they?

Magicicada is a genus of periodical cicadas known for emerging in massive numbers in 17 or 13 year cycles/periods. The cicadas emerging in 2011 have 13 year life-cycles. Magicicada are also organized into broods. There are 3 broods of 13 year cicadas, and the brood emerging in 2011 is Brood XIX (nineteen).

There are 4 species of 13 year Magicicada: M. tredecim, M. neotredecim, M. tredecassini and M. tredecula. The adults of all four species have black bodies with orange markings, and red-orange eyes. M. tredecim and M. neotredecim are very similar, and you can only tell them apart by their song in areas where their ranges overlap (or by looking at DNA). They are however, larger than M. tredecassini and M. tredecula, and have a noticeably different song.

Visit this Magicicada.org species page for detailed information, including photos and audio.

Here is some video and audio of 17 year Magicicada, which look and sound remarkably similar to the 13 year variety. This will give you an idea of what to expect:

Cicada Mania, best of 2007, part 1 by Dan from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Cicadas Singing in Princeton in 2004 by cicadamania

Note: some folks call these cicadas “locusts”, but they are not true locusts.

When will they emerge?

The Brood XIX Magicadas will emerge this spring. When they emerge depends on the weather. Generally speaking, once the ground temperature gets to 64 degrees Fahrenheit they will emerge. There’s an emergence formula too. Brood XIX cicadas in Georgia will most likely emerge before the cicadas in Illinois, for example, because Georgia is typically warmer than Illinois.

Where will they emerge?

Historically, Brood XIX has emerged in as many as 14 states (link to a map). The emergence will cover the most area in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. Other states like Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina should have strong emergences in limited areas, and states like Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Virginia will have very limited emergences.

Important: Magicicadas won’t emerge everywhere you see on the map. They might not exist in your town or neighborhood (particularly if there’s lots of new construction, which removes trees). The key to seeing them if they don’t emerge in your neighborhood is communication: networking with friends and family, checking the interactive maps on magicicada.org, checking sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

States:

1. mid to northern Alabama
2. Arkansas
3. northern Georgia
4. mid to southern Illinois
5. south-western Indiana
6. west Kentucky
7. northern Louisiana
8. Missouri
9. mid to northern Mississippi
10. North Carolina
11. western Oklahoma
12. north-west South Carolina
13. Tennessee
14. random places in Virginia

Why?

Why do Magicadas wait 13 years and why do they emerge in such large numbers? There are many theories why, but the primary reason could be that they’re trying to beat the predators. Since they emerge only once every 13 years, no species can anticipate their emergence (except man), and emerging in large numbers ensures that at least some of them will survive to reproduce.

Who?

People have many reactions to Magicicada including: fear, disgust, panic, mild curiosity, fascination, and fanaticism. We hope that YOU will find them fascinating, and get involved by helping to map the emergence, upload your cicada photos and videos to sites like YouTube and Flickr, and participate in discussions on Twitter and discussion forums.

More information:

• Magicicada Frequently Asked Questions
• Are periodical cicadas coming to your town
• Brood XIX and social media sites: where to discuss and upload, and how to tag your cicada experiences
• Six Cicada Experiments

As usual we have Brood XIX Shirts and Mugs for sale from CafePress.