Cicada Mania

Elias was kind enough to send us 10 Tibicen photos he took in 2009. Photos include Tibicen tibicen (chloromera), Tibicen lyricen, Tibicen tibicen & Cicada Killer Wasp on Elias’ fingers, Tibicen canicularis and Tibicen linnei.

You can view the gallery page for all, or visit the individual photos:

Female Tibicen tibicen eclosing.

Female Tibicen tibicen eclosing.

T. lyricen male in the teneral phase.

Tibicen tibicen female with emerald green eyes.

Cicada Killer Wasp and Tibicen tibicen on Elias’ finger.

Cicada Killer Wasp and Tibicen tibicen on Elias’ fingers.

Tibicen canicularis eclosing.

Tibicen canicularis eclosing.

T. canicualris eclosing in Lakewood NJ.

T. linnei teneral and its exuvia.

Don’t try this:

Joe Green recently provided Cicada Mania with videos of various cicadas calling, and I posted them on Vimeo.

Here’s a selection of T. resonans calls, including alarm calls:

T. resonans alarm call by Joe Green from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

T. resonans alarm call by Joe Green from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

T. resonans calling by Joe Green from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

T. resonans calling by Joe Green from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Joe’s Tibicen resonans were recorded in Florida. Here is a photo of a T. resonans also by Joe.

Joe Green mailed us some new cicada photos.

The first time I saw the Genus and species name for this cicada, it was called a Tibicen chloromera:

Then its name changed to Tibicen chloromerus, so the gender of the Genus and species name would be in agreement (or so I believe).

Now, this cicada is simply Tibicen tibicen. To read more about why, you’ll need to read Entomological News, Volume 119 Issue 3, “The Identity Of Cicada tibicen Linné [=Tibicen chloromerus (Walker, 1850)] (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) no access”.

Here is the abstract:

A lectotype is designated for Cicada tibicen Linné, 1758. The Linnaean specimen located in the Zoological Museum of Uppsala University can be traced to Linné and the original species description. The species is determined to be the same as what is currently recognized as Tibicen chloromerus (Walker, 1850), making T. chloromerus and Cicada sayi Smith and Grossbeck, 1907, junior synonyms of Tibicen tibicen (L.).

Of course you can call it Swamp Cicada, Morning Cicada, or Green Annual Cicada (from Bug Guide). It doesn’t care.

Now do I update all instances of “Tibicen chloromera” on this site, or not. Hmmm….

You might know Elias from his posts on the Message Board. Monday, after a lot of searching, he found a female Tibicen auletes in Lakewood New Jersey.

I was down in Lakewood NJ yesterday and after finding 5 more additional huge exuvia, the unthinkable happened. a female T. auletes flew to a light, hit the pole after circling many times and slid down to the ground. I easily captured her on the ground. Wanted to share this picture. look how beautiful she is with all that pruinosity!

Tibicen auletes are the largest of the North American Tibicen species. Their bodies a a little under 2″ long. Auletes are also know as the Sissor-Grinder, Northern Dusk-singing Cicada, or Great Dusk-calling Cicada. Read more at Bug Guide. The Songs of Insects site has sound files so you can listen and hear if you have auletes in your yard too.

Here’s one of Elias’ photos. Awesome, no? I’ll post another soon.

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 dorsatus, formerly T. 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

Tibicen tibicen (T. chloromerus, T. chloromera)

Roy Troutman took some excellent Tibicen superbus (formerly T. superba) photos while visiting Texas.

Here’s a preview:

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 dorsatus, formerly T. 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

Tibicen tibicen (T. chloromerus, T. chloromera)