Category: Brood II

The Brood II Emergence Has Begun

Post author By Dan
Post date June 28, 2013
88 Comments on The Brood II Emergence Has Begun

June 28th Update

At this point if you haven’t had a periodical cicada emerge in your yard/neighborhood/town, you won’t. The best last chance to see them would be in New York State along rte 9G, parts of 9 and 9J. The more northern, the better. I visited that area last weekend, and found some great spots.

Flagging (when leaves turn brown from cicada egg laying) can be seen in New Jersey and states south of there. Probably a little bit of Connecticut and New York as well.

People are noticing sap dripping from the scars left behind from cicada egg laying.

Next up will be the hatching of the eggs.

Don’t forget to report FLAGGING (brown leaves) sightings to Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) so they can add them to their live map. You can report flagging, as well as egg nests, and newly hatched nymphs.

As usual Cicada Mania offers a full line of shirts, glassware, buttons and other souvenirs:

June 17th Update

After visiting central New Jersey and Staten Island over the weekend it’s clear that the emergence in that area is past peak. There is less singing, plenty of ovipositing and some flagging.

Staten Island: Wolfe’s Pond Park and areas along Amboy Road still has enough cicadas to enjoy them, in Staten Island. Bloomingdale Park and High Rock Park are disappointing.

New York State along the Hudson River valley is the place to go to see them at their best. Places like High Falls & Germany Town, and as far north as Stuyvesant.

Rain spoiled a lot of the emergence (for cicada fans). Here is a funny editorial cartoon about the cicadas and frequent rain.

Enjoy some periodical cicada video I uploaded this weekend.

Some new sounds as well.

June 9th Update

We’re at the halfway point.

The 2013 Brood II emergence began somewhere between April, 23rd and May, 1st, in North Carolina and Virginia. Nymphs are still emerging along the Hudson River in NY and in Connecticut.

Here’s a nice gallery of images from Dani Siddle taken in the Malden-on-Hudson area.
Magicicada cassini in Malden on Hudson NY by Dani Siddle 2

Areas in southern states are no doubt in the clean up phase. Adults have stopped singing, and corpses litter the ground, while the eggs of the next generation are nestled in branches high up in trees.

This is what to expect here on out:

They stink — literally, not figuratively. Yeah, their rotting corpses stink, so you want to clean them up. A rake and shovel work. Some people use vacuums, which are effective, but your vacuums might inherit the smell of the cicadas.

The hatch — in about 6-8 weeks the eggs laid in tree branches will hatch and the 1st instar nymphs will fall to the ground (see “THE ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION OF PERIODICAL CICADAS” by Kathy S. Williams and Chris Simon). The fall doesn’t hurt them because they have a low terminal velocity. Wear a hat in August. At this point they quickly dig into the soil, and start feeding on roots — small grass roots at first, and larger roots as they get larger. Chances are you won’t even notice them. Sadly, about 98% of them die in the first two years. Just imagine if they all survived — 5000% more cicadas!

The birds will come back — birds and other critters often leave a neighborhood during a cicada emergence. Either they get their fill of eating the cicadas, they can’t hear each other over the over-powering call of the cicadas, or they find it hard to navigate the sky and trees with all the cicadas around. What ever the case, birds and other animals will return to your neighborhood once the cicadas die off. Do not worry.

June 7th Update

Some interesting news stories:

Westfield Residents Learn the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Cicadas

A podcast with David Rothenberg and John Cooley.

An Invasion of 17-Year-Olds, Loud, Lusty and Six-Legged

June 6th Update

It’s been nearly 2 weeks since my last update, but I’ve been busy — traveling around looking and listening for cicadas. I have literally 100s of photos and videos, and information to update the site with. Lots of info to come.

Ladies: check out these cicada-themed finger nails!

Road-tripers: East Coast Cicadas: (Road Side) Attractions They Couldn’t See In 1996.

Status of the emergence:
– Cicadas in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland should be post-peak. Singing, mating, laying eggs, but mostly dying. New Jersey is at it’s peak — mostly singing, mating and laying eggs. Pensy, Staten Island and the rest of New York have cicadas in all phases, but they should still have some emerging nymphs to check out. If you want to watch nymphs emerging at this point, Connecticut is the place to go.

Locations I’ve visited and heard or saw cicadas:
New Jersey: Metuchen, Edison, Iselin, Colonia, Woodbridge, Westfield, Fanwood, Summit, Scotch Plains, Clark, Watchung…
Staten Island: most parks in southern SI, like Wolfe’s Pong Park (the cicadas survived Sandy) and Bloomingdale Park. Lots along Drumgoole road.

Locations other people reported:
– Meriden, CT

– Berkeley Heights NJ
– Flat Rock Brood Nature Center www.flatrockbrook.org in NJ
– Lewis Morris Park, Convent Station, Madison and Morris Township in NJ
– Maplewood in Essex County, NJ
– Millburn, NJ (South Mountain Reservation)
– Mountainside, NJ
– Plainfield, NJ
– Upper Montclair, NJ
– West Milford, NJ

– Cornwall-On Hudson, NY
– Red Hook, NY

– Glen Allen, VA
– Manassas Battlefield Park in VA
– Woodbridge VA

See the live map for the lastest 500 locations reported to Magiciada.org.

Where they’re not (sorry):
– DC (they’re south west of DC).
– Most counties in New Jersey south of Middlesex (with some exceptions).
– Most of Pensy

May 24th Update

Cold days ahead until Tuesday for the Brood II cicadas, at least in the northern states. Temperatures below 57 F/14 C will put the insects into a state of torpor, making them easy prey for critters. The rain and wind doesn’t help either. Read: “Adaptation of the Thermal Responses of Insects” by James E. Heath; James L. Hanegan; Peter J. Wilkin; Maxine Shoemaker Heath.

Some positive news: Cicadas @ UCONN has declared a pocket of Brood II in Georgia. Time to update the brood charts!

May 23rd Update

Oh Hai!

I heard chorusing for the first time in Metuchen, NJ today.

+ Berkeley Heights, NJ (thx Lucinda)
+ Finneytown Ohio (thx Roy) (technically not Brood II)

A video of a cicada undergoing ecdysis (emerging from its nymphal skin (exuvia)), from Rachel in Charlottesville, Va:

A video of The New Jersey Cicada Takeover in Summit NJ from Jason:

Here’s an adult cicada in Westfield NJ:

@cicadamania cicadas in Westfield, New Jersey twitter.com/DryopoidDarlin…

— Crystal Maier (@DryopoidDarling) May 23, 2013

Update for May 22nd

+ Upper Montclair NJ (thx Eryn)

Today I found a white eyed male Magicicada septendecim in Metuchen NJ. Here is a video. White eyed periodical cicadas are relatively rare.

Update for May 21st

The cicadas are chorusing in Charlottesville VA. Here’s a video of their chorus. (thx Rachel)

According to Henryk J. Behnke of the Staten Island Museum: “Finally, the temperature is right and the first, small groups of hundreds of 17-year cicadas are emerging on Staten Island’s South Shore.”

Jason sent us this YouTube video of teneral (soft, white, newly emerged) adults in Summit NJ:

And this video of adult cicadas:

Update for May 19th

More locations:
Guilford, CT (thx Justin)
Chase City and Farmville, VA (thx Nathan)
Manassas, VA (thx Camillia)
Summit, NJ (see a video of a lone nymph crawling around):

See where cicada researchers Satoshi Kakishima and Jin Yoshimura have located cicadas: https://cicadas.uconn.edu.

Update for May 18th

Cicadas are starting to emerge throughout New Jersey. Westfield, Iselin and Metuchen are visually confirmed. I will assume that they have started to emerge in Staten Island as well because of the relative proximity of Staten Island and Jersey.

Cicadas have started chorusing in North Garden, VA.

Visual confirmation of the emergence in:
Westfield, NJ
Metuchen, NJ
Iselin, NJ
Fredricksburg, VA
Lake Ridge, VA
Yadkin County, NC

Some new galleries of photos:

Update (5/16):

Jim Reported in with photos of an adult cicada in Westfield NJ! the first NJ sighting I’ve seen.

The emergence in Virginia continues to be strong.

Louisa County VA
Rhoadesville VA (Orange County)
Springfield VA

Update (5/15): Randy from Rhoadsville VA said “Today was 85 and its still 74 at 11PM. WOW! The emergence is incredible. There are nymphs everywhere and in various stages from molting”.

On the Facebook Cicada Mania page, Clarla said “The wooded areas around my house are “boiling” and you can hear the larvae digging their way out. LOTS of molting nymphs all over my entrance”.

Update (5/14): cicadas have emerged in many locations in Virgina, including:

Brentsville, VA
Calvert County, VA
Charlottesville, VA
Doylesville, VA
Kinderhook, VA
Martinsville, VA
Stafford County, VA
Stanardsville, VA

A gallery of Brood II cicadas on Flickr!

Update (5/9): cicadas have emerged in North Carolina, Virgina (see a photo) and Maryland (read a tweet) so far. Nymphs are active in New Jersey according to Magicicada and my sister’s chihuahua:

chihuahua cicada

Update (5/2): cicadas have emerged in Guilford County and Stokes County North Carolina.

May 1st:

Over on the Entomology-Cicadidae cicada group (rip) a gentleman named Tommy Joseph has posted photos of periodical cicadas which have emerged this week in Greensboro, North Carolina This makes sense as North Carolina is the southern-most state with a Brood II population, and southern states warm up before northern states.

There are also plenty of sightings (mostly nymphs, but some adults) on the Cicadas @ UCONN map. Don’t forget to post your sighting there.

Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org)

The emergence will proceed slowly at first, starting with the southern-most states.

And something amusing for the kids:

17 year cicadas y u no?

Of course it wouldn’t be as special if they did emerge every year.

Brood II Magicicada Periodical Video

New York is still loaded with cicadas

Post author By Dan
Post date June 23, 2013
9 Comments on New York is still loaded with cicadas

New York cicadas If you want to see and hear the Brood II cicadas, play hookey this week, and head on up the Hudson Valley in New York State. DO IT! It’s your last chance until 2030 (unless you want to see Brood III and XXII next year).

Today I took an eight-hour road trip along the Hudson River in NY. I hit Palisades Interstate Park, Bear Mountain, Cold Springs, virtually every town along Rte 9G and 199, Germantown, Hudson, and Woodstock.

Cold Spring and Woodstock were a little disappointing, though their downtowns seemed like nice places to visit (no time for human fun when you’re tracking cicadas). The east side of the Hudson River was definitely more active than the west side, although I did hear cicada choruses along Interstate 87 between exit 18 and 16.

Here are my favorite locations. The first one is pure gold.

Rt 199
A rest stop for cars.
Rhinebeck NY 12572
41.972693,-73.915277
Loads of ‘decims and cassini. Cassini could be picked off the low lying trees like grapes. ‘Decims hugged trees by the 100’s. Best spot of the day.

130 Main street by the river.
Germantown, NY 12526
42.134975,-73.897069
Cassini and decim choruses. Decims and cassini on low vegetation.

400 New York 308
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
41.938882,-73.88215
Cassini and decim choruses. Decims in low lying trees.

Dutchess Mall, ironically near a big box hardware store that will remain nameless
Fishkill, NY
41.515125,-73.892328
Cassini and ‘decim choruses. ‘Decims in low lying trees. Very active and feisty.

Tiorati Brook Rd
Stony Point, NY 10980
41.252589,-74.055829
‘Decim choruses. ‘Decims in low lying trees.

Some video and audio from the New York emergence:

Periodical cicadas at a rest stop in Rhinebeck NY:

Magicicada septendecim in Stony Point NY:

Magicicada cassini Court II and III NY Brood II 2013:

Tags M. cassini, M. septendecim

Brood II Magicicada Periodical Photos & Illustrations

Jean-Francois Duval’s Cicada Photos from Connecticut

Post author By Dan
Post date June 17, 2013
1 Comment on Jean-Francois Duval’s Cicada Photos from Connecticut

Jean-Francois Duval of Victoriaville, Québec wrote me back on April 15th looking for advice for where and when to observe the 2013 Brood II emergence. Where is easier than when. I recommended a park in Connecticut (closest state to Victoriaville, Québec) that is known to have Brood II cicadas. When was more difficult this year because of a cold and rainy spring; cold and rain delay emergences or make them difficult to appreaciate.

I’m happy to say Jean-Francois made it to Connecticut at the right time to see the cicadas. Here is a selection of his photos.

Adult Magicicada and cicada with failed ecdysis in Connecticut by Jean-Francois Duval

Cicada emergence holes in Connecticut by Jean-Francois Duval

Exuvia on a tree in Connecticut by Jean-Francois Duval

Magicicada exuvia in Connecticut by Jean-Francois Duval

Magicicada septendecim in Connecticut by Jean-Francois Duval

Teneral Magicicada and exuvia in Connecticut by Jean-Francois Duval

Teneral Magicicada in Connecticut by Jean-Francois Duval

White Eyed Magicicada in Dale city VA by Stephen Cota

Brood II Magicicada Periodical

Oklahoma surprise periodical cicada emergence!

Post author By Dan
Post date June 15, 2013
8 Comments on Oklahoma surprise periodical cicada emergence!

Periodical cicadas (Magicicada) are emerging in and around the Oklahoma City area, unexpectedly!

OK map

June 15th:

The Facebook page for this event posted that there are Oklahoma State University records of going back to 1996, 1979, 1962, and 1928, showing a 17 year pattern. There’s also some confusion between this “micro brood” [a term I’m using because I like beer] and Brood IV, because the Oklahoma M. cassini have orange stripes like an M. septendecula, and you can only tell them apart by their DNA (and their song, of course).

Cicadas @ UCONN had a Facebook update as well.

June 13th:

Chris Simon says they “think that this might be an undiscovered brood that just happens to coincide with Brood II.”

Gene Kristsky found a page that mentioned Brood II in OK, and Chris Simon pointed out that the cicadas fill a gap in Brood IV.

Thanks to T. Wilken for posting this image. it is a male M. cassini.

I checked the document Drew, W. A., F. L. Spangler and D. Molnar. 1974. Oklahoma Cicadidae (Homoptera). Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. Stillwater. 54: 90-7. No specific mention of Oklahoma county.

Original post:

There is an Oklahoma 17 Year Cicada Early Emergence Facebook page. (They might be 13 year cicadas, BTW).

If you are in Oklahoma please visit Cicadas @ UCONN and report your sighting! View the sightings on the map.

Random conjecture:

They could be Brood IV, which are due to emerge in 2015, making this a two year acceleration that brood. This could also be Brood XIX, which last emerged in 2011, making this a two year deceleration.
They could be an undocumented emergence of Brood II.
But the really weird thing is, Oklahoma City is outside of the Brood IV and Brood XIX areas.
Did some windy weather move the cicadas westward?
Did a nursery in the Brood IV or XIX area inadvertently move them to OK City?
Did someone play cicada egg “Johnny Appleseed”?

Brood II Magicicada Ovipositing Periodical Video

Cicada Video of the Week

Here’s some cicada video I shot over the weekend. Enjoy:

Magicicada trying to take a drink from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Singing Magicicada septendecim from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Magicicada septendecim ovipositing from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Close up of a tymbal of a Magicicada septendecim from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Tags M. septendecim

Brood II Elias Bonaros Magicicada Periodical Photos & Illustrations Roy Troutman

Roy Troutman’s 2013 Brood II cicada photos, gallery 1

Post author By Dan
Post date June 8, 2013

When Roy Troutman visited New Jersey and New York in 2013 for Brood II he took a lot of great cicada photos.

Here is a sample of the best.
Click the images for a larger version.
Visit Gallery #2 and Gallery #3 for more.

A mass of exuvia and corpses by Roy Troutman

Adult Magicicada on a pine tree by Roy Troutman

Cicada Art at the Staten Island Museum by Roy Troutman

Cicada Holes by Roy Troutman

Cicada Nikes

Cicada Nymph by Roy Troutman

Cicada Timeline at the Staten Island Museum by Roy Troutman

Crippled Magicicada by Roy Troutman

Dan Mozgai, Roy Troutman and Elias Bonaros at the Staten Island Museum by Michelle Troutman

Elias Bonaros in the Manhattan Subway new a Cicada Tile Mosaic

Tags M. cassini, M. septendecim

Brood II Edward Johnson Elias Bonaros John Cooley Magicicada Periodical Roy Troutman

Five days of Cicada Mania

Post author By Dan
Post date June 8, 2013

Two Wednesdays ago, May 29th, my friends Roy and Michelle Troutman arrived in New Jersey. Roy has been a cicada enthusiast since he was a child growing up in Ohio. Roy has contributed many photos and videos to cicadamania.com over the years. We met in Chicago for Brood XIII in 2007, and I visited his home in Ohio for Brood XIV in 2008. This year it was my turn to return the favor for Brood II, and Roy and Michelle drove out to New Jersey.

Wednesday night we drove up to Metuchen, New Jersey to check out the emergence there. We met up with Elias Bonaros, at my Mother’s home. This location was fantastic for cicadas back in 1996, so it was worth trying again in 2013. My Mother’s yard was loaded with hundreds of cicada nymphs, teneral cicadas and adults.

Thursday, May 30th, was a beach day for Michelle, and a cicada day for Roy and I. Roy and I drove to Middlesex county to meet up with Elias. Roy and I stopped at Roosevelt Park along the way. The groves of trees near the Plays in the Park building were filled with chorusing M. septendecim. The base of one tree was absolutely covered with discarded cicada exuvia (shells).

A mass of exuvia and corpses by Roy Troutman
Photo by Roy.

He headed to the Thomas Edison Monument in Edison NJ. There we met Elias. At the monument, sounds of construction competed with cicada choruses, but it was easy to hear both M. septendecim and M. cassini. The burdock filled field across from the monument, was filled with teneral Magiciada.

We hit Merrill Park in Colonia next. The park had many examples of both M. cassini and M. septendecim. The highlights were the many M. septendecim with caramel colored eyes, a small pine with close to 100 teneral adults clinging to its base, and loud, synchronized M. cassini choruses.

Adult Magicicada on a pine tree by Roy Troutman
Photo by Roy.

Next we headed to a very loud M. cassini chorusing center on Guernsey Lane in Colonia. There Elias and Roy experimented with making males call and change orientation by snapping their fingers (imitating a females wing snaps). This location is where the how loud (in decibels) do periodical cicadas get video came from.

Elias used his sharp ears to locate some M. septendecula in Iselin at the corner of Wood and Willow.

We stopped by Revere Blvd in Edison, which was a hot spot 17 years ago, not much luck in 2013, but the best find was a pseudo scorpion that has hitched a ride on a cicada.

Friday, May 31st, Roy, Michelle and I drove out to Staten Island, to the Staten Island Museum. Me met Ed Johnson, and enjoyed their fantastic cicada exhibit, including the cicada timeline which features me. The Staten Island Museum has the largest collection of cicada specimens in the U.S.A., including many of the extinct Tibicen bermudiana.

Just one corner of the Staten Island Museum 17 year cicada exhibit.

We took the ferry to Manhattan for a visit to the American Museum of Natural History to see an exhibit that was using some of Roy’s cicada video. Coincidentally we exited the C line Subway that had a mosaic of a cicada.

Roy Troutman and Elias Bonaros at the Periodical Cicada display at the American Museum of Natural History by Michelle Troutman
Elias and Roy examining a periodical cicada display at the AMNH.

Elias and Roy
Roy and Elias under the subway cicada mosaic.

Then it was back to the Staten Island Museum for an event called The Joy of Six Legged Sex which was about insect mating behavior, specifically cicadas. John Cooley of Cicadas @ UCONN and Ed Johnson of the Staten Island Museum spoke. David Rothenberg was also in attendance.

The Joy of Six Legged Sex event at the Staten Island Museum
A sign for the event at the Staten Island Museum.

John Cooley and Ed Johnson speaking at the Staten Island Museum Six Legged Sex event by Roy Troutman
John Cooley (left) and Ed Johnson (right).

Saturday, June 1st, Roy and Michelle left for Ohio. Later that day I met up with John Cooley, Jin Yoshimura, David Rothenberg, the New York Times, and friends. Read about that adventure: David Rothenberg, John Cooley and the New York Times.

Sunday, June 2nd, back to Staten Island to meet Chris Simon and Elias. More about that adventure in these posts:

Brood II Chris Simon Magicicada Periodical

Cicada Hunting with Chris Simon

Post author By Dan
Post date June 8, 2013

Last Sunday (June 1st) I met Chris Simon and Elias Bonaros in Staten Island. Chris was in Staten Island, NY to map cicada locations, and collect some specimens. Elias and I helped her find some M. septendecim and M. cassini.

Elias Bonaros (left) Chris Simon of Uconn (middle) Dan Mozgai (right) looking for cicadas
Elias (left), Chris (middle), Dan (right).

Chris Simon leads the Simon Lab at the University of Connecticut. From her biography: “Chris Simon is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and Adjunct Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.” “Recent projects in her laboratory focus on the systematics, biogeography, evolution of cicadas worldwide, the application of information on molecular evolutionary processes to the improvement of tree-building, speciation and its relationship to past climates and landforms, evolution of periodical life cycles, the role of song in the evolution of insect species, and molecular evolution of the secondary structure of ribosomal RNA.”

A Magicicada with Pink Eyes held by Chris Simon of UConn. Brood II. 2013.
Chris Simon holding a pink eyed Magicicada.