Cicada Mania

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May 23, 2018

Brood X Stragglers Emerge in Ohio

Filed under: Brood X | Gene Kritsky | Magicicada | Periodical Stragglers — Dan @ 9:59 pm

Gene Kritsky, author of Periodical Cicadas. The Plague and the Puzzle, let us know that many of what are likely Brood X cicada stragglers have emerged around the Mount St. Joseph University campus, in Cincinnati, Ohio. It’s likely that cicadas are emerging elsewhere in the Cincinnati area.

This is significant because Brood X cicadas should not emerge until 2021.

This is a photo of a Magicicada periodical cicada emerging on the MSJ campus, courtesy of Gene:
2018 MSJ nymph

Quick facts:

  • Gene Kritsky is a periodical cicada expert and Dean of the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences and Professor and of Biology at Mount St. Joseph University. Read more.
  • Brood X is a massive brood of Magicicada (the genus) periodical (the lifecycle type) cicadas that are set to emerge in 2021 in 15 states.
  • A straggler is a periodical cicada that emerges off-schedule, often a few years before or after the rest of its Brood.

8 Comments »

  1. Tracy Leskey says:

    We have stragglers in the Eastern Panhandle of WV (Jefferson County) as well. Found at one of our field sites. We are Brood X as well.

    1. Dan says:

      Thanks Tracy!

  2. Scott S. says:

    I live in Greenbelt, MD. Yesterday (May 26), I heard what I believe was a cicada singing nearby. I was unable to locate the source, somewhere high up in the many surrounding trees of my neighbors and the woods. It sounded like a solitary source. I’ve seen no shells on the several trees in my yard.

  3. Cameron says:

    Hey Dan, I just wanted you to know that I traveled to Princeton earlier today, and I found numerous shells and 9 nymphs ascending a tree. What brood is this emergence from? They were in the same place last year. Interesting.

    1. Dan says:

      Cool news. Brood X. 3 years early this time.

    2. Dan says:

      Please submit your sighting to Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) too.

      1. Cameron says:

        I will report them. Thanks for the feedback. I’m just still shocked that they have accelerated again!

  4. Terry Ross says:

    I live in Baltimore, MD, where Brood X is expected to be as much fun in 2021 as it was in 2004. Today I saw a cicada exoskeleton on one of my flowers — perhaps another early emerger from the big brood.

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