Cicada Mania

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

People who have contributed cicada photos, videos or other media and information to cicadamania.com.

February 16, 2019

Callogaeana festiva festiva (Fabricius, 1803)

Callogaeana festiva festiva is a cicada found in China, Thailand, India, Laos, Malaysia, Indochina, Bhutan, and likely adjacent countries. They are part of a group of cicadas known as “butterfly cicadas” because of their colorful wings.

Photo of a Callogaeana festiva festiva (orange) by Michel Chantraine:
Callogaeana festiva festiva (orange)

Callogaeana festiva festiva (white) by Michel Chantraine:

Photos by Dan Mozgai:
Callogaeana festiva festiva

Callogaeana festiva festiva

Callogaeana festiva festiva

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
SubTribe: Gaeanina
Genus: Callogaeana
Species: Callogaeana festiva festiva (Fabricius, 1803)

Note: there is another sub-species of Callogaeana festiva, but it is not named.

Here is a description of this cicada from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.

Male: Body above black; ocelli, eyes and a broad fascia behind them reddish-ochraceous; margins of pronotum and four discal fasciae to mesonotum— of which the two central ones are angulated and connected with the anterior angle at the basal cruciform elevation — greenish-ochraceous. Body beneath and legs lack; apical half of face and a spot between face and eyes reddish-ochraceous.

Tegmina greenish-ochraceous; the radial area, a transverse fascia crossing center from the apex of the radial area, near which is a large triangular spot, apex, and outer and inner margins, and two small spots near the base, blackish. The black area at the apex is more or less broken, sometimes including a small greenish-ochraceous spot. Wings pale bluish-green; the apex broadly black — containing a pale bluish spot — and the margin continued more narrowly black to anal angle.

The face is coarsely transversely striate, and broadly sulcated at the base.

For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.

A nice comparison of Gaeana & Callogaeana:

February 15, 2019

Becquartina versicolor Boulard, 2005

Filed under: Becquartina | Gaeanini | Michel Boulard | Michel Chantraine | Thailand — Dan @ 1:01 am

Becquartina versicolor is a cicada found in Thailand. They are part of a group of cicadas known as “butterfly cicadas” because of their colorful wings.

Becquartina versicolor photo by Michel Chantraine:
Becquartina versicolor Boulard, 2005

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
SubTribe: Becquartinina
Genus: Becquartina
Species: Becquartina versicolor Boulard, 2005

February 14, 2019

Becquartina electa (Jacobi, 1902)

Filed under: Becquartina | China | Gaeanini | Jacobi | Michel Chantraine | Thailand | Vietnam — Dan @ 1:01 am

Becquartina electa is a cicada found in China, Thailand, and Vietnam. They are part of a group of cicadas known as “butterfly cicadas” because of their colorful wings.

Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Becquartina electa

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
SubTribe: Becquartinina
Genus: Becquartina
Species: Becquartina electa (Jacobi, 1902)

February 12, 2019

Auritibicen kyushyuensis (Kato, 1926)

Filed under: Auritibicen | Cryptotympanini | Japan | Kato | Osamu Hikino — Dan @ 1:01 am

Auritibicen kyushyuensis is found in Japan and is known as Kyushu-ezo-zemi.

Auritibicen kyushyuensis photo by Osamu Hikino:
Photo by Osamu Hikino

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Auritibicen (formerly Lyristes and Tibicen)
Species: Auritibicen kyushyuensis (Kato, 1926)

For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadae in Japan.

February 11, 2019

Auritibicen japonicus

Filed under: Auritibicen | Cryptotympanini | Japan | Matsumura | Osamu Hikino — Dan @ 1:01 am

There are ten sub-species of Auritibicen japonicus. They are found in Japan and known as Ezo-zemi.

Photo of a male Auritibicen japonicus by Osamu Hikino.
photo by Osamu Hikino

Photo of an Auritibicen japonicus by Osamu Hikino:
Lyristes japonicus by Osamu Hikino_001

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Auritibicen (formerly Lyristes and Tibicen)
Subspecies:

  1. Auritibicen japonicus echigo Kato, 1936
  2. Auritibicen japonicus hooshianus (Matsumura, 1936)
  3. Auritibicen japonicus immaculatus Kato, 1933
  4. Auritibicen japonicus interruptus Kato, 1943
  5. Auritibicen japonicus itoi Kato, 1939
  6. Auritibicen japonicus iwaoi Kato, 1939
  7. Auritibicen japonicus japonicus (Kato, 1925)
  8. Auritibicen japonicus kobayashii Kato, 1939
  9. Auritibicen japonicus niger Kato, 1933
  10. Auritibicen japonicus nigrofasciatus Kato, 1940

For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadae in Japan.

February 10, 2019

Huechys sanguinea

Filed under: Borneo | Burma | China | Cicadettini | Huechys | India | Indonesia | Malaysia | Michel Chantraine | Sumatra | Thailand — Dan @ 1:01 am

Huechys sanguinea is a cicada found in Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, and likely many other nations in Asia. There are at least 5 subspecies of this cicada. It is also known as the “medicinal cicada” because people use it as a medicine (see my translation below).

Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Huechys sanguinea

Description1:

Body and legs black; front and face to head, two large spots to mesonotum — sometimes fused and covering the whole disk — and the abdomen, sanguineous; base of abdomen narrowly black.

Tegmina black, opaque; wings shining fuscous, sometimes almost black, the interior of the anal area always paler.

Rostrum passing the intermediate coxae; face moderately compressed, and very coarsely striate.

Long. excl. tegm. Male and Female 17 to 25 millim. Exp. tegm. 43 to 65 millim.

Here’s my translation, from French, of a note about the medicinal properties of the cicada. The original text comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas:

According to Dr. Fumouze, “Huechys sanguinea, the Cicada sangiunolenta d’OIivier, is a very strong [common] insect in certain provinces of China, where it is harvested for the needs [valuable medicinal properties] of the species. In China, this insect would pass into China to enjoy curative properties, and it would be used chiefly in the treatment of rabies, but its value as much as the medicine against rabies is doubtful, but its action on the genitourinary organs seems to be certain, and this is what is in the fore, if the Huechys sanguinea would not yield a particular or similar active ingredient to the cantharides, what I can say now, it is because, by the procedures used to extract Cantharidin from cantharides, I have obtained no results, perhaps I will be later after that, but my first researches have not been completely unsuccessful, because I arrived to extract from Huechys sanguinea the material which gives to the abdominous teguments of this insect their magnificent yellow-orange color. This matter, which I will call Huechys’ red, is of a color exactly like that of the abdomen of the animal, as you can see by means of a sample which I put before your eyes. Huechys sanguinea also contains, but in smaller quantities, another yellowish, hygrometric dying material. “- Btdl. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1888, pp. xxii., xxiii.

TL;DR = “People use it to treat rabies, but it’s doubtful it actually works as a rabies treatment. It does work for its ‘Viagra-like’ properties. And its red pigment can be extracted.”

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadettinae
Tribe: Cicadettini
SubTribe: Huechysina
Genus: Huechys
Species:

  • Huechys sanguinea hainanensis Kato, 1931
  • Huechys sanguinea philaemata (Fabricius, 1803)
  • Huechys sanguinea sanguinea (Degeer, 1773)
  • Huechys sanguinea suffusa Distant, 1888
  • Huechys sanguinea wuchangensis Liu, 1940

For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.

References:

  1. The description and location information comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
  3. Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1

September 9, 2018

Roy Troutman

Filed under: Roy Troutman — Dan @ 7:54 am

Roy Troutman is a cicada researcher and enthusiast. Roy has contributed hundreds of photos, news articles and videos to this website.

Some papers Roy has contributed to:

  • The periodical cicada four-year acceleration hypothesis revisited and the polyphyletic nature of Brood V, including an updated crowd-source enhanced map (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada). Cooley JR, Arguedas N, Bonaros E, Bunker G, Chiswell SM, DeGiovine A, Edwards M, Hassanieh D, Haji D, Knox J, Kritsky G, Mills C, Mozgai D, Troutman R, Zyla J, Hasegawa H, Sota T, Yoshimura J, Simon C. (2018) < PeerJ 6:e5282 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5282
  • Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada). Gene Kritsky, Roy Troutman, Dan Mozgai, Chris Simon, Stephen M Chiswel, Satoshi Kakishima, Teiji Sota, Jin Yoshimura, John R Cooley. American Entomologist, Volume 63, Issue 4, 12 December 2017, Pages E15—E20, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmx066
  • The 2014 emergence of a previously unrecognized 13-year brood of periodical cicadas in southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Gene Kritsky, Roy Troutman. November 2014 · Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting 2014; 11/2014

If you are a member of the press, media, etc, and would like to contact Roy, his email address is sbpstudios@gmail.com.

You can get t-shirts and other items with Roy’s photos on them too: Red Eye Magicicada and Blue Eye Magicicada.

Here is a list of galleries featuring Roy’s cicada photos:

Adult Magicicada and Nymph

Here are some of Roy’s videos:

July 31, 2018

New paper: The periodical cicada four-year acceleration hypothesis revisited and the polyphyletic nature of Brood V

A new paper about periodical cicadas! View it: https://peerj.com/articles/5282/

“The periodical cicada four-year acceleration hypothesis revisited and the polyphyletic nature of Brood V, including an updated crowd-source enhanced map (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada)”

Authors: John R. Cooley​, Nidia Arguedas, Elias Bonaros, Gerry Bunker, Stephen M. Chiswell, Annette DeGiovine, Marten Edwards, Diane Hassanieh, Diler Haji, John Knox, Gene Kritsky, Carolyn Mills, Dan Mozgai, Roy Troutman, John Zyla, Hiroki Hasegawa, Teiji Sota, Jin Yoshimura, and Chris Simon.

Abstract:

The periodical cicadas of North America (Magicicada spp.) are well-known for their long life cycles of 13 and 17 years and their mass synchronized emergences. Although periodical cicada life cycles are relatively strict, the biogeographic patterns of periodical cicada broods, or year-classes, indicate that they must undergo some degree of life cycle switching. We present a new map of periodical cicada Brood V, which emerged in 2016, and demonstrate that it consists of at least four distinct parts that span an area in the United States stretching from Ohio to Long Island. We discuss mtDNA haplotype variation in this brood in relation to other periodical cicada broods, noting that different parts of this brood appear to have different origins. We use this information to refine a hypothesis for the formation of periodical cicada broods by 1- and 4-year life cycle jumps.

January 6, 2018

New paper about Brood XXII Magicicadas

There is a new paper out about Brood XXII, titled Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada). I helped with the field work for this paper, traveling through Ohio and Kentucky with Roy Troutman, recording the locations of periodical cicadas.

Brood XXII, a brood of Magicicada periodical cicadas with a 13-year lifecycle, exists in Louisiana & Mississippi, and Ohio & Kentucky with no geographic connection between them (the two groups are geographically isolated). The paper discusses the similarities and differences between the two groups.

You can read and download the paper for free.

Citation for the paper:
Gene Kritsky, Roy Troutman, Dan Mozgai, Chris Simon, Stephen M Chiswell, Satoshi Kakishima, Teiji Sota, Jin Yoshimura, John R Cooley; Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada), American Entomologist, Volume 63, Issue 4, 12 December 2017, Pages E15—E20, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmx066

July 9, 2017

Cicadas of Japan

Tibicen japonicus
Photo: Auritibicen japonicus by Osamu Hikino.

Cicada season in Japan, like North America, seems to be best from June to September, peaking in August. Different cicada species emerge at different times of the year, but the majority of them are active during the summer.

The best website for the cicadas of Japan that I’ve come across is Cicadae in Japan which is run by Y. Saisho who co-wrote the amazing The Cicadidae of Japan book & CD.

I don’t have too many photos of cicadas from Japan on this site, but here are some of the more well known (Genus names may have changed recently):

Auritibicen flammatus (formerly Tibicen flammatus, Lyristes flammatus)

A. flammatus
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Auritibicen japonicus (formerly Tibicen japonicus, Lyristes japonicus)

Male Auritibicen japonicus (formerly Tibicen japonicus, Lyristes japonicus)
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata

Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Here’s a video from the YouTube:

Auritibicen kyushyuensis

Photo by Osamu Hikino
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Hyalessa maculaticollis

Oncotympana Maculaticollis

Platypleura kaempferi

Platypleura kaempferi (Fabricius, 1794)
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Tanna japonensis

A male Tanna japonensis
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Euterpnosia chibensis

Euterpnosia chibensis photos by Osamu Hikino. Japan.
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Yezoterpnosia nigricosta

Male Terpnosia nigricosta by Osamu Hikino
Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Cicadas are very popular in Japan, and they find their way into pop culture (Anime, live action kids shows like Ultraman). This photo features a cicada toy when spun, makes a sound, some cicada clicker toys, a plush Oncotympana, a Seminingen (bad guy from Ultraman), and Yotsuba a green-haired girl who has caught a cicada (Lyristes japonicus perhaps):

cicada related pop culture items from Japan

Cicada News & Photos

The best place, I’ve found, to keep track of which cicadas are out in Japan is Twitter. You can search Twitter yourself for セミ and you’ll find many results — most Tweets are references to pop culture, but occasional photos and actual information about actual cicadas.

These are many of the Twitter feeds I follow. You don’t need to belong to Twitter to view their feeds, but it’s more fun if you join.

Bonus:

Here’s a video of a Yezoterpnosia nigricosta taken by Elias Bonaros:

« Newer PostsMore »

Cicada T-shirts