Magicicada - Cicada Mania

Skip to Cicada Content.

Cicada Mania

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

April 19, 2021

17-year cicada cross word puzzle

Filed under: Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 6:02 pm

Want to try a 17-year cicada crossword puzzle? It isn’t easy.

Download a large version of the image with the hints. Or use the one on this page:

Cicada Cross Word Puzzle

ACROSS
2. Two of them are…
7. Mistaken identity
8. Soil temperature sampler
10. Insect Singers site
11. The cicada’s old outfit
13. Where you’ll find the arches.
15. Keep a lid on it.
17. Longest lifecycle.
22. Ohio expert
24. Five.
27. Never on time.
28. A delicious drink.
29. I’m seeing red.
30. Grill.
31. 5 steps.
33. Final form.
35. Seven is the smallest.

DOWN
1. Un-popped collar.
3. Four to get off the Floor.
4. A “cool” cicada expert.
5. Three of Five.
6. Youngsters.
9. Plates
12. A rare color.
14. Nest knife.
16. Pitch shifter
18. Left Connecticut forever
19. Drum kit.
20. Amphetamine fungus.
21. Cicada banners.
23. Keep hanging on.
25. Mr. Softy.
26. Just six of these.
32. Beak.
34. Connecticut lab leader

Answers are here.

I used the Discovery Education Puzzlemaker to create this.

Comments (2)

April 18, 2021

Cicada Mania BINGO for Brood X 2021

Here’s something fun: Cicada Mania BINGO. Use this BINGO card to keep track of everything you see, hear or do in context to the Brood X emergence. Here’s a PDF version. Tips below the image of the card:

Cicada Mania

Tips:

I’ll probably do a version for summertime cicadas too.

Comments (0)

Periodical cicada nymphs emerging at night

Filed under: Brood XIII | Magicicada | Molting | Nymphs | Periodical — Dan @ 5:29 am

One of the most fun periodical cicada experiences is watching thousands of nymphs emerge from the ground at night, and crawl to the nearest vertical surface (hopefully a tree) and begin to molt.

This is a video by Roy Troutman from 2007 of the Brood XIII emergence, specifically in Ryerson Woods in Illinois:

Observing magicicada emergence at Ryerson Woods from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.

Here’s a time-lapse video, also by Roy, of a cicada nymph molting:

Magicicada nymph molting from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.

Comments (0)

April 17, 2021

Magicicada wing flicks

Filed under: Magicicada | Sounds — Dan @ 7:59 pm

Female Magicicada cicadas do not sing, but they do make a sound by flicking their wings. These percussive wing flicks get the attention of male cicadas and it compels them to sing their court songs in response.

Here’s a video of a female cicada flicking her wings:

A video of a group of female cicadas flicking their wings in a tree:

You can fool male cicadas into thinking a finger snap is a wing flick. Here’s a video of a male cicada calling in response to fake wing flicks:

Comments (0)

March 29, 2021

Dr. Chordate’s Periodical Cicada Graduation Song

Filed under: Magicicada | Music — Dan @ 6:41 pm

Have a listen to Dr. Chordate’s Periodical Cicada Graduation Song, with an intro by Dr. Chordate. “This is a graduation song: the larvae of the 17-year periodic cicada finally emerge from the ground to transform into adults.”

Comments (0)

March 21, 2021

Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition by Gene Kritsky

Filed under: Books | Gene Kritsky | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 11:00 am

Renowned cicada researcher Gene Kritsky, PhD., has a new book out: Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition. It is available for Kindle and paperback on Amazon.com. Now’s the time to get it.

Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition

Gene is also has a new link for the Cicada Safari App.

Comments (0)

March 3, 2021

Seventeen Year Cicadas, a song by George Peter Block, Jr.

Filed under: Magicicada | Music | Periodical — Dan @ 1:53 pm

Here’s a song titled Seventeen Year Cicadas by George Peter Block, Jr,:

Comments (0)

February 4, 2021

Aside from Brood X, what else is happening with cicadas in the U.S.

Filed under: Magicicada | Periodical | Periodical Stragglers — Dan @ 9:21 pm

Aside from Brood X, what else is happening in terms of Periodical cicadas?

Expect some early-emerging cicadas from Brood XIV, showing up 4 years early. Brood XIV exists in Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Massachusettes, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia.
There might be some 1-year stragglers form Brood IX. Brood IX is in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
There might be some 4-year stragglers from Brood VI. Brood VI is found in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Oklaholma. And Ohio?Brood VI is a weird one.

Comments (0)

January 24, 2021

70,000 Magicicada cicadas = one adult American?

Filed under: Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 11:12 pm

I was wondering how much an adult Magicicada weighs. According to Richard Karban’s paper “Transient habitats limit development time for periodical cicadas,” a female Magicicada septendecim weighs approximately 1.2 grams. (Karban, R. (2014), Transient habitats limit development time for periodical cicadas. Ecology, 95: 3-8. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1518.1)

According to the CDC website, the average adult American human weighs 84051 grams.

That means the average adult weighs as much as 70,043 Magicicada cicadas.

Image unrelated:
Godzilla vs Cicada

Comments (1)

Cicadas @ UCONN, a new Cicada website

Filed under: John Cooley | Magicicada | Periodical | United States — Dan @ 9:12 pm

Magicicada.org was an amazing website filled with information about Magicicada periodical cicadas and backed by cicada expert, John Cooley.

The site now has a new address and look: Cicadas @ UCONN (https://cicadas.uconn.edu/). Bookmark it in preparation for the 2021 Brood X emergence.

UCONN (University of Connecticut) has other cicada websites such as The Simon Lab and Cicada Central.

Comments (0)