Here’s some photos of Roy’s white eyed 17 year cicadas.
June 10, 2008
New Brood XIV Photos from Roy
An adult Magicicada:
A Magicicada suffering from the massospora cicadina fungus:
The fungus is spread during mating.
June 4, 2008
Roy’s Brood XIV Photography
Here’s quite a few photos Roy has taken of the emergence. It’s kind of ironic that I’m staying with Roy and his family, and yet it’s taken me this long to post the photos.
BBC Filming in Mariemont
I’m catching up on the photos Roy Troutman has sent me.
Here’s photos from a BBC photoshoot in Mariemont Ohio, taken on May 24th. The photos feature cicada expert Gene Kritsky.
May 26, 2008
Cicada emergence photos from Loveland OH
Roy sent in a batch of photos from the Loveland OH emergence. I’ll post more and larger versions as soon as I’m done celebrating Memorial Day.
May 18, 2008
Roy’s cicadas emerge in captivity
Like Matt Berger, Roy Troutman was able to observe Magicicadas emerge in captivity. Here’s an excellent photo of one of Roy’s cicadas.
April 23, 2008
Cicada nymphs, chimneys and holes
Here’s some new photos from Roy Troutman that will give you a good idea of what to look for when searching for signs of cicadas in your yard:
This is a pair of Magicicada nymphs, much like you might find when gardening or turning over logs or stones in your yard.
See those beige globs of soil amongst the leaves and debris? Those are called cicada chimneys. They are a sure sign that a cicada nymph is below the soil, and will emerge in a few days or weeks.
Look closely at this picture and you’ll see holes in the ground. Those are holes that cicada nymphs have dug, and they’re another sure sign of where a cicada will emerge.
On May 1st we’ll start making predictions as to when they’ll start to emerge.
April 19, 2008
Introducing the 2008 Brood XIV Map
Roy Troutman created this Brood XIV Brood Map for the site. It includes button links to sites where you can report your cicada sightings.
Here’s a small version. Click it to be brought to the exciting full size version:
April 12, 2008
2008 Cicada Temperature Study
Roy Troutman sent me these photos of temperature loggers that allow cicada experts, like Gene Kritsky, to measure the ground soil temperature, and improve their formulas for predicting Magicicada emergences.
We [Gene Kristsky and Roy Troutman] buried 3 temperature probes & tied one on a tree branch for air readings. The temperature loggers will take a very accurate reading every 10 minutes & after the emergence has started in full swing Gene will dig them up & hook them to a usb cable & download all the data to his laptop for study. He [Gene] is trying to determine the exact temperature that they will emerge so he can fine tune his formula for calculating emergence times.
Last year Gene’s emergence formula calculator (try it!) did a good job of predicting the Brood XIII emergence, and the 2008 temperature study should only improve it.
You might be able to participate in the 2008 cicada temperature study. If you’re interested, contact Gene Kritsky.
November 4, 2007
Cicada Horror Films, Solar Power and Fish Lures
Odds and Ends:
The Rock is Back: Filmmaker David “The Rock Nelson” is currently working on editing his latest series, “The Killer Cicadas,” and its sequel “Attack of the Giant Cicadas,” for which he caught 500 cicadas and ate some of them.
Nanotech News: Cicadas wings are being used as the inspiration for building better solar technology. (thanks Roy)
Peng Jiang, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, is drawing inspiration from the eyes of moths and the wings of cicadas to create unusual new anti-reflective and water-repellant coatings — coatings that appear to have potential to make solar cells both more efficient and self-cleaning. Windows in cars and homes, computer screens and other consumer products also could improve thanks to the super-transparent coatings.
Russian fishing lure company www.apico-fish.ru used one of Roy Troutman’s cicada photos for a recent ad for cicada themed lures.
