June 8, 2013

Brood II Magicicada photos from Scotch Plains, NJ

Filed under: Brood II | Magicicada | Periodical | Photos & Illustrations — Tags: M. septendecim — Dan @ 8:32 am

Enjoy these Brood II Magicicada photos from Scotch Plans, NJ from Judy Lanfredi.

Click each thumbnail image for larger versions.

A teneral Magicicada in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Adult Magicicada on a leaf in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Adult Magicicada on a telephone pole in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Adult Magicicada septendecim in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Crippled Magicicada in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Magicicada on a flower in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Magicicada on a leaf in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Magicicada on an iris flower in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Magicicada septendecim and exuvia in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Magicicada undergoing ecdysis in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Mating Magicicada septendecim in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Teneral Magicicada and exuvia in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Teneral Magicicada in Grass in Scotch Plains NJ by Judy Lanfredi

Teneral Magicicada in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Teneral Magicicada on a flower in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

Teneral Magicicada on a stick in Scotch Plains by Judy Lanfredi

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Brood II Cicada Video from 2013

Filed under: Audio, Sounds, Songs | Brood II | Magicicada | Periodical | Video — Tags: M. cassini, M. septendecim, M. septendecula — Dan @ 6:21 am

Enjoy these videos of the Brood II Magicicada emergence from 2013.

Magicicada septendecim ovipositing

Magicicada septendecim ovipositing.

Periodical Cicadas in Merrill Park in Colonia NJ

Periodical Cicadas in Merrill Park in Colonia NJ.

Either a Magicicada cassini or septendecula

Either a Magicicada cassini or septendecula.

A calling Magicicada septendecim

A calling Magicicada septendecim.

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June 6, 2013

How loud/noisy (in decibels) do periodical cicadas get?

Last Thursday Roy Troutman, Elias Bonaros and I traveled around central New Jersey, looking for cicadas. They were not hard to find. Elias found a location in Colonia that had a particularly loud Magicicada cassini chorusing center. Using my camera and Extech 407730 40-to-130-Decibel Digital Sound Level Meter, I recorded the calls of these cicadas and how loud they can get. The quality of the video isn’t the best because it’s a camera, not a video camera, but it is good enough.

Magicicada cassini chorusing center peaking at 85db (on YouTube):

Elias and Roy used finger snaps, mimicking the wing snaps of female cicadas, to trick the males into singing:

Magicicada cassini responding to fingersnaps (on Vimeo):

Magicicada cassini responding to fingersnaps from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

We placed the M. cassini directly on the microphone and got calls as high as 109 decibels, in this video:

Magicicada cassini calling at 109db in Colonia NJ from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

There were a few M. septendecim in the area as well. A Magicicada septendecim goes from a Court II to Court III call as soon as it crawls on the decibel meter, in this video.

Magicicada septendecim court 3 from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

The cicada choruses in Central New Jersey have no doubt gotten louder since last week. Hopefully, on Sunday I’ll get back out to Central Jersey or Staten Island and make some recordings.

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June 5, 2013

Urban Buzz 17-Year Cicada Citizen Science Project

Filed under: Brood II | Citizen Science | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 7:00 pm

Are you interested in participating in a cicada citizen science project? Check out: Urban Buzz: A 17-Year Cicada Citizen Science Project.

The folks behind the Your Wild Life website are hoping people will collect cicadas and send them to them for a science project to see how Urbanization impacts periodical cicadas.

They want samples from forests, from cities, from suburbs, from farms — in other words, across a gradient from low to high urbanization.

They have instructions on their site as to which cicadas to collect and where to send them.

Time is wasting though. The 17 year cicadas will only be around so long, so you have to act fast.

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June 4, 2013

David Rothenberg, John Cooley and the New York Times

Filed under: Books | Brood II | David Rothenberg | John Cooley | Music — Dan @ 8:52 pm

It isn’t often that cicada celebrities show up on your Mother’s lawn, but when you have a healthy supply of easily catchable singing M. septendecim, and a cicada website, these things happen.

Last Saturday I met up with cicada researcher John Cooley, Japanese cicada researcher Jim Yoshimura, and musician and professor David Rothenberg at Roosevelt Park in Edison NJ. They were looking for male cicadas to perform with David at a World Science Festival event in the Bronx later that night. New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was also there to interview David and John, and artist Asher Jay was there to lend David support.

The cicadas in the park weren’t performing well enough, so I directed them to my Mom’s place in Metuchen.

The Metuchen location yielded many screaming cicadas. David collaborated with the cicadas on the spot with his Ani-Moog iPad app, and a clarinet. John Cooley dropped some cicada science for Stephen Farrell’s video camera as well. My Mom served refreshments. Once enough cicadas were collected, the cicada celebrities departed — before leaving David left my Mom an autographed book and CD. Very cool!

John Cooley & David Rothenberg
A beautiful day for enjoying the song of cicadas in the suburbs of New Jersey.

Stop the killing of cicadas! Help us fight back.

Filed under: Brood II | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 5:18 am

Stop the killing of cicadas! Help us fight back!

red white and blue eyes

John Cooley of Cicadas @ UCONN let me know that The Home Depot has large Ortho stands that advocate the destruction of periodical cicadas. Here is his tweet on the topic.

This is the Ortho Display at Home Depot.Please do your best to contact Home Depot and Ortho, and encourage them… fb.me/V0m4UCZa

— Team Cicada (@Magicicada1317) June 3, 2013

I went to Lowes to check there as well and they had Sevin brand pesticides with hangtags that specifically mention cicadas. When I saw that in person it took all my willpower not to flip out and make a scene.

How can we stop these companies from advocating the destruction of cicadas? We can call, Tweet, and leave posts on their Facebook pages.

Call your local store and demand they remove signage that advocates the destruction of cicadas. Go to their websites, find their contact us pages, and call and email them.

If you see such displays in other stores, let them know how you feel as well. I will personally boycott these stores and sell any stock I have related to them.

Reasons why destroying cicadas is ridiculous:

Cicadas @ UCONN has a periodical cicada FAQ that features compelling reasons not to destroy these animals.

Here are my reasons:

How often does an event occur that is as strange, sublime, and fascinating as a periodical cicada emergence? Very rarely. Maybe when a comet arrives. Four or five times in a lifetime, at most.
You don’t want to rob future generations of the experience of a periodical cicada emergence, do you? You want your grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be able to experience these amazing creatures.
Urbanization and other stresses are already shrinking Magicicada broods. Why accelerate their demise? Do you want the periodical cicadas to have the same fate as the dodo or passenger pigeon?
It’s unpatriotic to kill periodical cicadas. Why? They’re only located in the U.S.A. They should be the official insect of the United States of America.
Pesticides can cause collateral damage to other insect species like honey bees. Like to eat fruit? How about honey? Well, good luck if you help contribute to the acceleration of the death of honey bees. Read more about this topic. I think it would be ironic if a farmer sprayed to kill cicadas, but killed the pollinating insects as well.
Can cicadas damage or kill small and fruiting trees? I’ve never seen it happen, but it is possible. Did you know that you can net these trees instead of drenching your neighborhood with pesticides? You can. The Magicicada FAQ has a picture of the netting.
Pets and people love to eat cicadas. Do you want to poison your pets and kids when they eat a cicada treated with pesticide? I hope not.
Probably the worst part about a periodical cicada emergence is cleaning up their rotting corpses. If The Home Depot and Lowes were smart, they would be selling Shop Vacs instead of chemicals.
Using pesticides won’t help reduce the amount of time you have to spend cleaning them up. The corpses will pile up either way.
Cicadas don’t eat fruit and vegetables. Unlike other insects, cicadas lack the mouthparts to chew vegetable matter. Unlike a caterpillar or grasshopper, they won’t eat your tomatoes or other garden vegetables.

I can go on and on…

Please help. Use social media to voice your disgust. Call your local store to ask them to take down anti-cicada signage.

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June 2, 2013

Cicadas, stronger than the storm – Surviving Sandy

Filed under: Brood II | Video — Dan @ 8:52 pm

Today Elias Bonaros and I surveyed Magicicada populations along the Staten Island shore at Wolfe’s Pond Park. The shore in this area took a serious beating from tropical storm Sandy. Everyone interested in the cicada populations in this area feared the worst for the cicadas. I’m happy to say that many cicadas survived and are currently singing in the location.

What is most amazing is even the cicadas along the eroded shoreline survived. Their exit holes can be seen in the soil along the beach, and even along the vertical face of the eroded soil.

Brood II; Wolfes Pond Park cicada holes

Some video:

More photos:

Cicada holes along eroded shore line:
Brood II; Wolfes Pond Park cicada holes 2

Cicada hole in eroded shore line with nymph exuvia:
Brood II; Wolfes Pond Park cicada holes 3

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May 30, 2013

Female Magicicada septendecula

Filed under: Brood II | Elias Bonaros | Magicicada | Periodical | Video — Tags: M. septendecula — Dan @ 9:45 pm

Here’s a video of a female Magicicada septendecula found in Woodbridge Township, NJ (near Metro Park).

Here is a still photo:

Female Magicicada septendecula

This is a male Magicicada septendecula:

Male Magicicada septendecula

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May 18, 2013

Brood II cicada photos from Iselin, NJ

Filed under: Brood II | Magicicada | Periodical | Photos & Illustrations — Dan @ 10:32 am

My friend Nicole DiMaggio sent us these photos of adult Magicicadas taken in Iselin NJ. The emergence is just getting started in New Jersey, and will really kick off next Tuesday when the temps hit the 80s.

Nicole DiMaggio

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Photos of Brood II Magicicada cicadas from Westfield, NJ by Jim Occi

Filed under: Brood II | Jim Occi | Magicicada | Photos & Illustrations — Tags: M. septendecim — Dan @ 8:57 am

These photos of adult Magicicada cicadas were taken in Westfield, NJ by Jim Occi on May 16th.

Adult Brood II Magicicada septendecim from Westfield NJ by Jim Occi

This photo is particularly interesting as the cicadas’s wings were damaged during the ecdysis (molting) process and its tymbal (the ribbed structure that makes the cicada’s sound) is clearly exposed:

Adult Brood II Magicicada septendecim from Westfield NJ by Jim Occi

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