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 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 chloromera

Here’s a preview:

An amazing red-orange cicada. Most of the body and wings turn black when it’s done drying out, but it is just as amazing.

In 1996, I started the site to document some Brood II Magicicada photos I took in my back yard and at a friend’s wedding, and the site took off from there.

The site has had 7 different URLs over the years.

In 2004, during the Brood X emergence, the site received 50,000 visitors in a single day and I was interviewed on CNN (horrible, horrible Ted Nugent haircut in a ponytail):

2007 and 2008 were great as well. In 2007 I got to meet fellow cicada enthusiasts Roy Troutman, Gene Kritsky, Gerry Bunker and Joe Green, and I was interviewed for a Japanese TV show:

And in 2008 I drove out to Ohio and stayed with Roy Troutman, met Gene Kritsky again, and met John Cooley for the first time.

Here’s the original logo:

It’s been a fun 13 years.

There’s a $10 shirt, a mug, and more, like this shirt:

Sandy Aiello was kind enough to let us post some of her Magicicada photos on Cicadamania:

UPDATED! Now with high-rez versions — just click the images for the huge (multi-megabyte versions).

Thanks to Elias for noticing the coloration behind the eye that IDs this as a decim.

So far:

Brood II stragglers are emerging (4 years ahead of schedule) in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.

Brood XIV stragglers are emerging (1 year after they’re supposed to) in Ohio.

Update:

I found some skins in Metuchen, NJ tonight. Apologies for the quality of the photo — I only had my cell phone with me.

At the same time, Brood XIV stragglers are emerging in Ohio (Batavia, Ohio to be exact). Brood XIV emerged in full-force last year, which means some Brood XIV cicadas emerging now are emerging 1 year behind schedule.

If you compare the Brood II map and Brood XIV map you’ll see they don’t overlap. Hint: open each map in a different browser or browser tab and toggle between the two.

Here’s some pictures of the Brood XIV stragglers Roy Troutman found just tonight in Batavia, Ohio.