Cicada Mania

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

December 2, 2012

Blue Cicadas

Filed under: Anatomy | Australia — Dan @ 7:14 pm

Blue cicadas. Did you know they exist? They do… at least in Australia.

What’s That Bug recently posted a photo of a blue Bladder Cicada from Australia (Cystosoma saundersii). It’s a great find. Cystosoma saundersii are typically green.

Then there is the Blue Moon blue colored morph of Cyclochila australasiae:

Cyclochila australasiae, Blue Moon, by David Emery
Photo by David Emery

Cyclochila australasiae come in many colors, but the most common color is green. “Blue Moon” is a good nickname for these cicadas because they are rare and only found, idiomatically speaking, “once in a Blue Moon”.

So, why are some cicadas blue, when their species is typically green? Here is a quote from the paper Blue, red, and yellow insects by B. G. BENNETT, Entomology Division, DSIR, Private Bag, Auckland, New Zealand:

The colours of insects are often due to a complex mixture of pigments, some of which
are concentrated from their diet. These are carotenoids, flavonoids, and anthraquinones, and some are porphyrins made from the breakdown of plant chlorophyll. Insectoverdin is a common green pigment produced by a mixture of blue and yellow compounds. The blue is tetrapyrrole, but sometimes an anthocyanin, and the yellow is a carotenoid.

Blue + yellow = green. If the yellow is missing, you get a blue cicada. I heard that, at least in the case of the Cyclochila australasiae, the blue cicadas are typically females. Perhaps something related to genetics or behavior of the females leads to an inability to process the caroteniods ingested along with their diet (tree fluids). I’m not sure, but it’s a topic that fascinates me, so I’ll continue to look into it.

April 1, 2012

Cicadas and Prime Numbers

Filed under: Anatomy | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 8:51 pm

Last week io9 published an article titled Why do cicadas know prime numbers? The gist of the article is that cicadas developed long, prime-numbered, periodical life cycles to avoid gaining a predator that can synch up with the cicadas.

It’s an interesting read, but it’s a little thin on facts and references. Here is part of what the article is missing:

Only seven out of the hundreds of species of cicadas have 13 or 17-year life cycles, and they all belong to the genus Magicicada. Three species of cicadas have 17-year life cycles: M. septendecim, M. cassini, and M. septendecula. Four species of cicadas have 13-year life cycles: M. neotredecim, M. tredecim, M. tredecassini and M. tredecula. These are the periodical cicadas Stephen Jay Gould wrote about.

As one proof of the theory, there isn’t a wasp that specifically predates Magicicadas (the genus of cicadas with long, prime-numbered life cycles), but there is a Cicada Killer Wasp that predates Tibicen cicadas, which have shorter life cycles and emerge every year.

Although no animal predator has figured out their 17 & 13-year life cycle, one life form has: the Massospora cicadina fungus.

The book in which Stephen Jay Gould theorized about prime numbers and periodical cicadas is Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History. You can search through the book in Google Book Search, or just buy a copy (if you’re interested). I think I paid a cent for my copy (used).

Other species of cicadas also have life cycles of a prime number of years, but some do not. The Chremistica ribhoi is known for four-year life cycles, which coincide with the Fifa World Cup (association football event). The Raiateana knowlesi of Fiji has an 8 year life cycle.

Not all cicadas are periodical cicadas; the vast majority of cicada species appear every year even though their life cycles are longer than one year.

If you want to delve deeper into the subject of periodical cicadas and prime numbers, search for the paper Evolution of Periodicity in Periodical Cicadas by Nicolas Lehmann-Ziebarth et al.

This image is meant to be funny, but it’s a bit misleading…
A cicada counting prime numbers
It’s likely that periodical cicadas are counting in units of 4. 4+4+4+1 = 13. 4+4+4+4+1 = 17.

Prof. Douglas Galvao of the State University of Campinas has written a paper titled Emergence of Prime Numbers as the Result of Evolutionary Strategy. Download his paper from Cicada Mania.

Notes:

  • Cicadas do not incubate underground. Cicada eggs hatch above ground; typically in grooves in the stems of plants created by female cicadas.
  • Cicadas rarely sing at night. In rare circumstances, like in the presence of artificial light, they will sing at night. If you hear an insect at night it is likely a cricket or katydid (or frog).
  • Here’s another article with a practical application for web design called The Cicada Principle and Why It Matters to Web Designers.
  • Mathematical “locusts” an mathematical explanation of the cicadas and prime numbers phenomenon.

October 26, 2011

Cicadas serenaded the dinosaurs

Filed under: Gene Kritsky | Nymphs — Dan @ 10:15 am

Apparently cicadas serenaded the dinosaurs! Entomologist and Mount St. Joseph professor Gene Kritsky shared the news today that cicadas lived as long as 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.

A quote from a press release:

New research has documented that cicadas, those noisy insects that sing during the dog days of summer, have been screaming since the time of the dinosaurs.

A fossil of the oldest definitive cicada to be discovered was described by George Poinar, Jr., Ph.D., professor of zoology at Oregon State University and Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., professor of biology, at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. The cicada, measuring 1.26 mm in length, was named Burmacicada protera.

Read the full Press Release on the MSJ website.

Here is a photo of the ancient Burmacicada protera cicada nymph trapped in amber. Photo credit: George Poinar, Jr., Ph.D.

Burmacicada protera. Copyright of George Poinar, Jr.

It looks a lot like a modern-day first-instar cicada nymph:
First instar cicada nymphs
Photo by Roy Troutman.

Update: Here’s a video news story about Gene’s fossil find.

I need a step-up my fossil collecting hobby. It looks like there’s some places in New Jersey to find fossils. Maybe I’ll find a cicada.

May 22, 2011

Cicada Contest: Find a Cicada with White Eyes and Win a Prize

Filed under: Brood XIX | Eye Color | Magicicada | Video — Dan @ 8:35 pm

The White-eyed cicada contest is complete!

I had ten “I Love Cicada” pins sitting in a bag in my office. Ten people found a white-eyed cicada, sent me a photo and won “I Love Cicadas pins”!

Our first pin winner is Joey Simmons of Nashville, TN:
White eyed Magicicada from Joey Simmons of Nashville, TN. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our second winner is Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN:
White-eyed Magicicada from Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our third winner is Serena Cochrane of Gerald MO:
White-eyed cicada from Serena Cochrane of Gerald, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our fourth winner is Melissa Han of Nashville TN:
White Eyed cicada found by Melissa Ham in Nashville TN

Our fifth winners are Jane and Evan Skinner of Troy MO:
White-Eyed Magicicada found by Jane and Evan Skinner of Troy, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our sixth winner is Phyllis Rice of Poplar Bluff MO:
White-Eyed Magicicada found by Phyllis Rice of Poplar Bluff, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our seventh winner is Jack Willey of Nashville TV:
White-eyed Magicicada found by Jack Willey of Nashville TV

Our eighth winner is Chris Lowry of Nashville TN:
White-eyed cicada from Paul Stuve found in Columbia, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our ninth winner is Nathan Voss of Spring Hill TN :
White-eyed cicada found by Nathan Voss of Spring Hill, TN. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our tenth and final winner is Paul Stuve of Columbia, MO:
White-eyed cicada from Paul Stuve found in Columbia, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Here’s the prize pins:

White eyed Magicicada by Dan from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

May 9, 2011

Look out for Magicicadas with white eyes

Filed under: Eye Color | Magicicada | Video — Dan @ 5:22 pm

Most of the periodical cicadas you’ll see have red or reddish-orange eyes. A very small number, however, have white, blue, or yellow eyes. Some even have amazing multi-colored eyes. Have you seen any white eyed periodical cicadas yet? Be on the lookout for them, and make sure you take a photo or video when you see one. Have a contest with your friends and family to see who can find the first white or blue-eyed cicada. If you have a TV station, radio show or a local website, you could have a contest for who can find the first white eyed cicada. I personally have only found one white eyed cicada (video below), so I have to guess that the odds are at least one in 10,000.

Here’s a photo of a white eyed Magicicada cicada Roy Troutman found back in 2004:

Photo of a Magicicada cicada with white eyes by Roy Troutman.

Roy took a photo of a blue-eyed cicada, and I made a t-shirt from the image (I use the mug version for my morning coffee).

This is a video of white eyed cicada I recorded back in 2007:

White eyed Magicicada by Dan from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

All photos of periodical cicadas with different color eyes.

March 29, 2010

New Magicicada nymph photos

Filed under: Elias Bonaros | Magicicada | Nymphs — Dan @ 5:05 am

Elias went digging for Magicicada nymphs on 3/21. Here’s a gallery of the nymphs he found.

Elias's 1st and 2nd Instar Magicicada nymph

October 10, 2009

Interesting Cicada items from Wenilton Luís Daltro

Filed under: Anatomy | Brazil | Quesada — Tags: — Dan @ 8:01 am

Wenilton Luís Daltro posted some interesting cicada items on our old the message board, and I wanted to post them on the homepage as well.

Quesada gigas song:

Cicada metamorphosis:

And,

Text PDF about brazilian cicadas, with photos.

August 9, 2009

Cicadas and bacteria

Filed under: Anatomy — Dan @ 7:43 pm

I saw quite a few articles this weekend about the discovery of bacteria that live within cicada cells that are they key to their long lives underground.

Here’s the Live Science article.

So how do cicadas gather the nutrients they need to survive, despite their low-nutrient diet? McCutcheon says that cicadas supplement their diet by maintaining complicated relationships with two species of specialized bacteria that live inside their cells. The bacteria produce essential nutrients for the cicadas that the animals neither receive from their sap diets nor produce themselves.

March 16, 2009

New Cicada Photos from Santisuk Vibul in Thailand.

Filed under: Anatomy | Thailand — Dan @ 8:25 pm

New Cicada Photos from Santisuk Vibul in Thailand.

New cicada photos from Santisuk Vibul’s in Thailand.

January 11, 2009

HD Cicada Videos from Roy Troutman

Filed under: Anatomy | Brood XIV | Magicicada | Roy Troutman | Video — Dan @ 7:36 pm

Here’s something special. Roy Troutman has uploaded some HD quality videos of Magicicadas to YouTube. Click the links to see the full-size versions.

Periodical Cicada sitting on leaf in HD:

Periodical Cicada’s heart pumping in HD:

Cicada molting in HD:

Here’s a Brood XIV Roy created as well:

Brood XIV Map by Roy Troutman

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