Cicada Mania

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

July 23, 2008

The Songs of Insects

Filed under: Anatomy | Books | Broods | Sounds — Dan @ 10:02 pm

Lately, we’ve received quite a few emails asking for audio samples of cicadas and katydids so folks can A) tell them apart, and B) tell what species they are. There’s plenty of sites on the web that feature cicada sounds; look for links tagged AUDIO on my cicada links page. Two particularly good sites for sound files Massachusetts Cicadas and Cicada Central.

In my search for good cicada and katydid sounds, many people recommended the book “The Songs of Insects” by Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger. I ordered it immediately, and it arrived today. I am truly amazed by this book (and audio CD). The book profiles 75 North American singing insects including cicadas, katydids, crickets, and grasshoppers. Each profile features two excellent color photos of each insect, a map of where you can find them, a description, and the audio CD that includes the insect’s song. The book is over 225 pages long, and a high-quality paperback. If you or your kids are interested in signing insects, there’s no better book to buy. All my nieces and nephews are getting this book for Christmas.

The authors of the book have a webpage featuring the songs of the insects featured in the book. Note that the book is lacking in species found in the western U.S. — if you live east of the Rockies this book is awesome.

Listing for bugs is a fun thing to do in these hot summer months — buy this book before the summer ends.

5 Marvins 5 out of 5 Marvins.

The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger

July 5, 2008

A monograph of oriental cicadidae (1892) by Willian Lucas

Filed under: Anatomy | Oriental Cicadidae | Photos & Illustrations — Dan @ 3:13 am

I recently found a book called A monograph of oriental cicadidae in the Internet Archive. The A monograph of oriental cicadidae was authored by W. L. Distant, and published in 1892 — that’s 116 years ago! The book contains plenty of text and illustrations, some of which I’ll include below:

Angamiana etherea

Angamiana etherea

Cicada taglica

Cicada taglica

Cosmopsaltria tripurasura

Cosmopsaltria tripurasura

Peciliopsaltria hampsoni

Peciliopsaltria hampsoni

Terpnosia stipata

Terpnosia stipata

Tosena depicta

Tosena depicta

Tosena sibylla

Tosena sibylla

Tosena splendida

Tosena splendida

July 3, 2008

A look back at Brood XIV: Leaves w/Cicadas

Filed under: Brood XIV | Exuvia — Dan @ 7:54 am


Leaves w/Cicadas, originally uploaded by dcfox.

An excellent photo found on Flickr.

June 28, 2008

Do cicadas bite or sting?

Filed under: Anatomy | FAQs — Dan @ 12:03 pm

If you believe you’ve been bitten and you’re concerned, the best thing to do is to consult a doctor, not this webpage. 🙂

Technically cicadas don’t bite or sting; they do however pierce and suck. They might try to pierce and suck you, but don’t worry, they aren’t Vampires nor are they malicious or angry — they’re just ignorant and think you’re a tree. Just remove the cicada from your person, and go about your business. Cicadas also have pointy feet, egg-laying parts (ovipositors), and other sharp parts that might feel like a bite.

Cicadas don’t have jaws (mandibles) like a wasp, mantis, or ant, built to tear and chew flesh. Cicadas don’t have stingers, like bees and wasps, meant to deploy venom and paralyze or otherwise harm their victim. See a video of a Japanese hornet to see what I mean.

Cicadas obtain sustenance by drinking tree fluids, which are relatively watery compared to human blood. Drinking human blood would probably kill a cicada.

Caution: Don’t hold cicadas in a closed fist — you can hurt the cicadas, and they might try to drink from your hand meat.

(Reference these meme groups for more info Entomemeology and Wild Green Memes For Ecological Fiends).

Actual photo. Even with an open palm, they might take a taste!
Hand meat

Here is a video of a cicada that has confused my thumb for a juicy tree limb:

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

See if you can spot the cicadas’ sucker in this illustration:

Illustration from Marlatt

Here’s a photo of a cicada’s mouth parts:

cicada mouth part

There is also a chance that if you believe you’ve been bitten by a cicada, you might have been bitten by a Cicada Killer Wasp. The Cicada Killer Wasp is a large wasp that hunts cicadas, and usually can be found around cicadas or often attached to a cicada. Cicada Killer Wasps normally avoid humans, but if you mess with one, it might attack.

Tip of the day: If you want to avoid cicadas, don’t use power tools, drills, saws, lawn mowers, weed whackers, leaf blowers, etc. in their presence. Cicadas think the sound made by these tools and machines are other cicadas. Female cicadas want to mate with the male cicadas they think they’re hearing, and male cicadas want to compete. If you can, use these tools in the morning or close to dusk when the temperatures are cooler, and cicadas are less active.

June 18, 2008

Close up photos of marble-colored cicada eyes

Filed under: Brood XIV | Eye Color | Roy Troutman — Dan @ 8:51 pm

High-res versions of Roy Troutman’s marble-eyed cicada photos. Fascinating. You can see a color variation in all 5 eyes!

Upclose on Marble eyed 17 year cicada

Close up of marble eyed cicada

June 17, 2008

More totally awesome marble-eyed cicada photos

Filed under: Brood XIV | Eye Color | Roy Troutman — Dan @ 10:21 am

Roy has obtained another marble-eyed 17 year cicada found by Mike & Reed Finfrock of West Chester, Ohio.

Grey Red Marble Eyed Magicicada

Red Gray Marble eyed cicada

White eyes are unique, maybe one in 100,000, but these marble eyed cicadas seem to be even more rare. They look like the red was torn away, revealing the gray below (like something you would see on a blinged out Honda Civic or an 80’s metal guitar).

June 12, 2008

Amazing cicada with white & orange colored eyes

Filed under: Brood XIV | Eye Color | Roy Troutman — Dan @ 8:24 pm

Here’s something that’s truly amazing — a 17 year cicada with marble-colored eyes. White eyed cicadas are rare — but a mixed color eye cicada is amazing. Roy and the person how found the cicada should go play the lottery tonight, because luck is on their side.

Marble-eyed Magicicada

June 10, 2008

White eyed Magicicada

Filed under: Brood XIV | Eye Color | Roy Troutman — Dan @ 8:05 pm

Here’s some photos of Roy’s white eyed 17 year cicadas.

White eyed 17 year cicada

White eyed 17 year cicada

White eyed 17 year cicada

June 2, 2008

Light on the pronotum

Filed under: Anatomy | Brood XIV — Dan @ 6:33 am

Roy Troutman’s brother in law Gary spotted this Magicicada with an unusually light pronotum. Normally the pronotum features 2 dark/black patches. In this example they are almost non-existent.

Pronotum light

May 18, 2008

Cicadas are popping out all over the place!

Filed under: Exuvia — Dan @ 6:17 am

Another sweet cicada photo has emerged on Flickr

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