Cicada Mania

Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.

September 13, 2023

Mystery Neotibicen in Edison, New Jersey

Filed under: Neotibicen — Tags: , — Dan @ 8:11 pm

Linnes-x-Winnemanna

Occasionally similar cicada species mate and form hybrids. Neotibicen linnei aka Linne’s Cicada exists in most of New Jersey and Neotibicen winnemanna aka Eastern Scissors Grinder exists in central and south-western New Jersey. These two species are known to hybridize. The other day I heard a cicada and wasn’t quite sure what it was. The tone sounded like Linne’s Cicada but the rhythm was like the Eastern Scissors Grinder. Is it a hybrid? The good people over on the Cicada Discussion, Science and Study Group say it’s likely a hybrid.

Here’s the audio:

Maybe the most interesting thing is proof of the existence of Eastern Scissors Grinder in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Others have heard them in East Brunswick as well.

Spectrogram:

spectrogram of the hybrid's song.

Or listen on YouTube:

September 8, 2023

SEMI RAIDA ROAD WARRIOR COLORWAY sofubi cicada man

Filed under: Toys and Amusements — Dan @ 9:23 pm

I collect anything related to cicadas. Over the past few years I came across two Instagram accounts dedicated to creating soft vinyl action figures called sofubi: jigokunoraida and Joe Serpico. One of the sofubi they specialize in is the SEMI RAIDA ROAD WARRIOR, which is a cicada-human biker hybrid. I was very lucky to obtain my own SEMI RAIDA ROAD WARRIOR during their latest lottery.

Here’s a photo of the ROAD WARRIOR holding one of his cicada minions (a Neotibicen tibicen tibicen). If you nice he has an iridescent appearance.

SEMI RAIDA ROAD WARRIOR

SEMI RAIDA ROAD WARRIOR

August 1, 2023

Megatibicen auletes is changing to Megatibicen grossus

Filed under: Cryptotympanini | Megatibicen — Dan @ 10:20 am

Update: originally I had Megatibicen grossa, but the name is Megatibicen grossus so the gender of the words align.

Megatibicen auletes (Germar, 1834) aka Northern Dusk Singing Cicada is changing to Megatibicen grossus(Fabricius, 1775). This cicada is the largest cicada in North America and is found in the following states in July-August: AL, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MS, MO, NE, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI.

The change comes from the paper: Sanborn, A.F. (2023) Resolving taxonomic issues of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) including new combinations, new synonymies, and revised status, with updates on the diversity of the Brazilian cicada fauna and new records for four South American countries. Zootaxa, VOL. 5318 NO. 3: 20 JUL. 2023, 339-362. DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5318.3.2.

Megatibicen grossus (as in BIG FLUTE PLAYER BIG):
Old Ladies

Reading the paper referenced above, it sounds like Johan Christian Fabricius incorrectly identified an specimen as being from Brazil. He named it Tettigonia grossa in 1775. Allen F. Sanborn compared the holotype of Tettigonia grossa with the holotype for Megatibicen auletes (Cicada auletes) and determined it was the same insect. Since old names take precedence over new names, auletes become grossa.

July 29, 2023

Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti alien head

Filed under: Neotibicen — Dan @ 6:37 pm

Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti aka Dark Lyric Cicada is a cicada that is distinguisable from the “Lighter” Lyric Cicada (Neotibicen lyricen lyricen) by what I call the “alien head” on its pronotum.

Once you see it, you cannot unsee it:

Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti alien head

Quoting from BugGuide:

The dark form, engelhardti, has a more eastern, northern and upland distribution (very common in and along the eastern mountains & associated plateaus/fall-line hills). Perhaps the increased pigment seen in this color form serves a thermoregulatory function associated with cooler temps and greater day-night temp differentials seen in higher altitudes and latitudes.

July 11, 2023

Lyric Cicada Nymph and Adult Comparison

Filed under: Neotibicen — Tags: — Dan @ 11:15 am

The Lyric Cicada (Neotibicen lyricen) is found in most states west of the Rocky Mountains.

This is what a Lyric Cicada nymph looks like before it molts:
Neotibicen lyricen nymph

This is what it looks like as an adult:
Neotibicen lyricen adult

Note that the Lyric Cicada’s eye color (brown), wing vein color (green), and foreleg color (orange-brown) are visible as a nymph and adult.

Here’s the in-between teneral phase:

Lyric Cicada Teneral

June 30, 2023

2023 North American Annual Cicadas Location Project on iNaturalist

Filed under: Annual | Proto-periodical — Dan @ 6:19 am

There are 3 types of cicada lifecycles:
1) Periodical: cicadas with a life cycle set to a specific number of years, with a predictable series of emergence years. Magicicada, for instance, emerges every 17 or 13 years depending on the species, and we have a calendar of years when and where they will emerge. Some “stragglers” do emerge each year.
2) Annual: cicadas that emerge every year without fail.
3) Proto-periodical: cicadas that emerge in small numbers every year (annual), but the size of the emergence varies significantly from year to year. Examples include Platypedia (see Platypedia putnami survey at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space by Tim McNary) and Okanagana (see Predator avoidance leads to separate emergence cycles in the protoperiodical Okanagana magnifica).

Considering there would only be Periodical stragglers in 2023, it was a perfect year for an iNaturalist project focusing on cicadas that emerge annually: 2023 North American Annual Cicadas Location Project.

2023 Project

This project includes all of North America, which includes Mexico, the United States, and Canada. iNaturalist determines the geographical footprint. It seems like most of the folks using the iNaturalist app are in the United States.

Typically cicadas in the southernmost, warmest areas (Mexico, Texas) emerge first. Cicadas that have black bodies like Platypedia can tolerate colder temperatures because the sun warms them up, so they’ll emerge in northern areas before other types of cicadas.

As of September 2nd
#1 Morning Cicada, #2 Superb Dog-day cicada, #3 Resh Cicada, #4 Northern Dog-Day Cicada, and #5 Lyric Cicada. My prediction is that the Northern Dog-Day cicada will surpass Resh in a week or so.

Screen Shot 2023-09-02 at 10.42.25 AM

As of August 25th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Morning Cicada, #3 Resh Cicada, #4 Northern Dog-Day Cicada, and #5 Lyric Cicada.

As of August 11th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Northern Dog-Day Cicada.

Scissor(s) Grinder slipped to 6th place.

As of August 6th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Scissor(s) Grinder.

As of July 30th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Hieroglyphic Cicada.

As of July 23rd,
#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Hieroglyphic Cicada, and #5 Little Mesquite Cicada.

The Texan cicada hunters are dominating…

As of July 18th,#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Hieroglyphic Cicada, #4 Little Mesquite Cicada, and #5 Morning Cicada.

As of July 7th, the top 5 cicadas are: The Superb Dog-day Cicada, the Resh Cicada, Hieroglyphic Cicada, the Little Mesquite Cicada, and the Lyric Cicada.

As of June 30th, the top 5 cicadas are: The Superb Dog-day Cicada, the Resh Cicada, the Little Mesquite Cicada, Hieroglyphic Cicada, and Putnam’s Cicada (a Platypedia).

Screen Shot 2023-06-30 at 9.14.13 AM

May 27, 2023

2023 Magicicada straggler update

Filed under: Brood X | Brood XIII | Brood XIV | Brood XIX | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 6:49 am

Updated for June 7th!

Here’s a map of 2023 Magicicada straggler sightings from 2023 Magicicada stragglers iNaturalist project and the Cicada Safari app. Dr. Gene Kritsky compiled the map.

Kritsky map June 7

It looks like there are plenty of stragglers from these broods:

Learn about Magicicada stragglers.

May 22, 2023

The Lucky Cicada Keychain as sold in Japan

Filed under: Japan | Lucky Cicada Key Chain — Dan @ 4:31 pm

If you’ve visited this website over the past 27 years, you might be familiar with the saga of the lucky cicada key chain.

In this latest chapter, we’ve obtained a version of the noisy toy as was sold in Japan (images below). Note that it does not include a keychain/ring, and sadly no longer makes a sound. Thanks to Roy for finding this on eBay.

The Lucky Cicada Keychain as sold in Japan

The Lucky Cicada Keychain as sold in Japan

Related articles:

April 13, 2023

Brood XIII and Brood XIX Magicicada will both emerge in 2024

Filed under: Brood XIII | Brood XIX | Periodical — Dan @ 9:42 am

News! A Brood XIX straggler has emerged in Georgia! More stragglers have been sighted in Hartselle AL, Pittsboro, NC, Chattanooga, TN, Asheboro, NC, and Chapel Hill, NC.

2024 will be a “magical” year for cicada fans because the periodical cicada broods XIII and XIX will emerge in 2024. These broods co-emerge every 221 years (13 X 17). The last time they co-emerged was in 1803, the same year as the Louisiana Purchase (the same year the U.S. got Brood XIX states Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma). Coincidence? Perhaps.

Thomas Jefferson thinking of the cicadas he just bought.

Brood XIII (13) has a 17-year lifecycle and is found in the states of IA, IL, IN, MI, and WI. This brood features the species Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini, and Magicicada septendecula.

People (cicada tourists) have begun to ask “Where is the best place to see Brood XIII in 2024?”. I can recommend the Ryerson Conservation Area in Deerfield, IL. See photos and videos from my trip there in 2007. Illinois has both Brood XIII and Brood XIX, and all 7 Magicicada species. So you could spend a week in southern Illinois for Brood XIX and then travel north to Deerfield for Brood XIII.

Brood XIX (19) has a 13-year lifecycle and is found in the states of AL, AR, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, and VA. This brood is also known as the Great Southern Brood and features the species Magicicada tredecim, Magicicada neotredecim, Magicicada tredecassini, and Magicicada tredecula.

Do these broods overlap? If they do, it’s in the Springfield, Illinois area. Springfield is a good place for your cicada sightseeing “basecamp”. Take a look at these maps on the UCONN Cicadas website: Brood XIX and Brood XIII.

Your next chance to see and hear two broods co-emerge will be in 2037 when Brood XIX and Brood IX (9) emerge.

February 28, 2023

Free book about the cicadas of Brazil: Cigarras do Brasil

Filed under: Brazil — Dan @ 10:27 pm

Get yourself a free book about the cicadas of Brazil: Cigarras do Brasil. Visit this link and download the PDF!

The books was made by:
Vera L. Nunes
Tatiana P. Ruschel
Douglas B. H. Maccagnan
Paula C. Simões
Ruler C. Acosta

Cigarras do Brasil

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Cicada T-shirts