Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.
Ever wonder how cicadas make the sound they make? Look no further than this article: What the buzz was all about: superfast song muscles rattle the tymbals of male periodical cicadas. You’ll final many paragraphs of information, but most importantly, macro photos, illustrations and even 3D models of working cicada muscles and membranes.
Thanks to Roy Troutman for this find.
Here’s a photo of first instar Magicicada nymphs by Roy Troutman:
Here is video of a 1st instar magicicada nymph crawling around taken just minutes after it crawled from its egg sack:
1st instar magicicada nymph from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
1st instar magicicada nymph in slow motion by Roy:
1st instar magicicada nymph in slow motion from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
Here’s a picture of Magicicada eggs from Roy Troutman. They’re about 3-4mm long. Very tiny.
Michael Jimms sent us this photo of a blue eyed Magicicada:
Michael won the last button in the blue/white/gray eyed cicada category.
Congratulations to all the winners. There are still prizes left in the contest: for Multi Colored Eyed cicadas, and for an emerging nymph with white eyes. Good luck.
A creamy white eyed cicada from Morton Grove by Judy Thorpe:
And…
A true-blue eyed cicada from Western Springs by Matt Weiss:
This entry was submitted by Elias Bonaros and Barbara Rzeszutek, taken in Deerfield, IL:
This entry was submitted by Chris Owen, taken at Lemon Lake County Park in Cedar lake, IN:
Joe Balynas sent us this picture of a mass of cicada exuvia (aka shells, skins, crisps). Make sure you click the image for the awesome larger version.
Here’s 3 Cicada Contest winners.
Jen Swofford in Highland Park, IL:
Mark Muto in North Riverside, IL:
Sonja Kassebaum of Gurnee, IL:
Paula King’s son found this cicada in Villa Park, IL. In the picture they eyes are white, but Paula observed that the eye color would actually vacillate between blue and white over the course of time. That’s an important observation.
Here’s another picture from Paula of a cicada with mustard colored eyes:
