Cicada Mania

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December 26, 2011

Brood I cicadas will emerge in Virginia and West Virginia in 2012

Filed under: Brood I | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 9:51 am

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…

Magicicada septendecim

15 Comments »

  1. Vladimir says:

    I found three in my backyard, I live in Henrico, Virginia.
    They are huge, 2″ – 3″ long, is this normal?

    1. Dan says:

      It is. Probably Tibicen auletes or Tibicen canicularis at this time of the year, not a periodical species of cicada.

  2. Helen Hobbs says:

    I saw my first one 6/15/2012. It was an adult.

  3. rick says:

    I would like to know when the brood 1 appeared in eastern WV and how long will they continue

    1. Dan says:

      Looks like they’re appearing in the area of Upper Tract WV https://cicadas.uconn.edu/media/ An emergence typically lasts 4 to 6 weeks.

  4. Sandy Anderson says:

    I live in Glorieta, NM and they have been here for at least 1 1/2 weeks. The trees are loaded with them!

    1. Dan says:

      Sandy, I bet you’ve got Cacama valvata cicadas Photos of Cacama valvata cicadas They’re cicadas all right, and there are plenty of them, but they aren’t the 17 year variety.

  5. Bill says:

    There are cicadas emerging in full force in Monongalia County, West Virginia.

  6. Maggi Beckstoffer says:

    They’re hatching here in Page County VA in the mountains. At first I thought someone’s house alarm was going off they are so loud and continuous!

  7. Stephanie says:

    I live in Linville, VA (on the outskirts of Harrisonburg) and we noticed their arrival last Friday evening (May 4th). We found hundreds of their exoskeletons over last weekend! Tonight their emergence has been AMAZING! We’ve watched hundreds come out of the ground and make their way to a higher spot!
    I can’t wait to go out in the morning and see what’s out there! =)

    A quick observation and question… I noticed that the 17 year cicadas seem to make a different noise than the annual cicadas. It’s not as loud and just sounds entirely different. I assume that’s true for different species of cicadas?

    1. Dan says:

      Yes, that’s true. Virtually all cicadas make a different sound. There are three different species of 17-year periodical cicadas, and they have unique calls as well ( audio clips here ).

  8. art says:

    I hear them coming. Every morning when it warms up, the woods to my west start to vibrate. It won’t be long…
    Timberville

  9. Lonnie Strouth says:

    Hundreds emerging today. All over the fences here in western Bedford county.

  10. Frances says:

    They are here by the hundreds. we kept seeing these holes around our barns and could not figure out what was causing them until we started seeing the “shells” of these creatures and now there are litterally close to 100 on our fences and even more adults starting to get on trees and shrubs. they truely are alien looking before that final molt.

  11. Debbie Custer says:

    They are here

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