Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.
Someone asked how loud Neotibicens were in terms of decibels. According to the University of Florida Book of Insect Records the Tibicen resh has a maximum sound pressure level of 107.2db, and the Tibicen pronotalis has a max SPL of 108.9db. Other species of Tibicen seem to max out around 80-100db.
Bonus unrelated link:
A French Canadian Tibicen page (thanks Roy).
Here’s a cute image for you: a cicada and its cousin, the leafhopper, in the same picture. If you look closely, you’ll see they look alike. Cicadas and leafhoppers belong to the same superfamily called Cicadoidea. Cicadas belong to the family Cicadidae, and leafhoppers belong to the family Cicadellidae.
Update: Gerry Bunker nailed it: it’s a Neotibicen superbus. Notice that the “McDonald’s Arch” is separated.
Here’s a challenge for all you cicada maniacs: identify this cicada! Even I don’t know what it is. Place your guesses in the Comments (see link below).
The photo was taken by Elise Solloway in Oklahoma in August of this year.
These are photos from 2005. Neotibicen tibicen tibicen aka Swamp or Morning Cicada. Back in 2005 we called them Tibicen chloromera.
Neotibicen tibicen tibicen that failed to successfully molt:
Neotibicen tibicen tibicen spreading its wings (click for larger image):
A series of photos of a Neotibicen tibicen tibicen molting:
Here’s a fresh picture of a Neotibicen from my backyard:
NEW! Gerry Bunker’s Tibicen Gallery: Photos from Gerry who runs the Massachusetts Cicadas web site.
NEW! Elise Solloway’s Tibicen Gallery: Photos taken southwest of Woodward, Oklahoma, the first week in July 2005
Photo by Elise:
NEW! Sloan Childers’s Tibicen Gallery: Photo taken in Round Rock Texas.
NEW! Natasha’s Okanagana rimosa Gallery: Okanagana rimosa, taken in Edmonton, Alberta.
There are many nicknames for cicadas. Periodic cicadas (17-year/13-year Magicicadas) are often called Locusts. Annual, summertime cicadas (primarily Tibicens) are called Jar Fly or Jarfly, Harvest Fly or “Dog Day” cicada depending on what part of the USA you’re from.
I found this site which provides guesses at the entomology of Jar Fly:
One is that when you catch one and hold it in your hand it “jars” or vibrates. The other thought is that the nickname came from the constant singing that might “jar” or unsettle some people’s nerves who are not accustomed to hearing it for hours on end.
My uneducated guess would be that kids catch them and put them in jars, hence “jar fly”.
Thanks to Becky for asking about Jarflies.
Here’s a nice photo of a Neotibicen cicada infected with Massospora fungi. Yuck! Thanks to Matt for the photo.
