Cicada ManiaGenera of cicadas.
Thanks to Cicada Mania friend Joe Green we now have 3 new cicada galleries featuring cicadas we didn’t have before one the site: Neocicada hieroglyphica, Diceroprocta olympusa and Megatibicen resonans.
This is a Neocicada hieroglyphica:
Hang in there, we’ll be back to the 17 Year Cicadas tomorrow.
Here’s a pleasant interruption in the 17-year cicada mania. Joe Green has sent us some cicada photos from Florida. These are from last years season.
Joe says the Neocicada hiroglyphica cicadas have been singing in Florida since April 29th.
Like Matt Berger, Roy Troutman was able to observe Magicicadas emerge in captivity. Here’s an excellent photo of one of Roy’s cicadas.
Shawn McLeod in Flemingsburg, Kentucky has reported a light emergence (3 cicadas).
John Hupka has reported empty shells of Cicadas in Nashville, Davidson Co, Tennessee!
Diane has reported “The Cicadas have arrived in our trees. We are 30 miles northwest of Nashville, TN. They seem to like our sycamore trees.”
Sherry has reported “I just got back from Cades Coves Tennessee the Magicicada were in the emergence stage both nights.”
Greg Stamper reported “Hazard, Kentucky – The Cicada started slowly a week ago now are beginning to pick up speed.”
John reported “I live in Floyd County Kentucky ans there are hundreds of them coming out.”
Tammy reported “I live in Corbin KY and my house is COVERED!!!!”
Also check out the Where Are They Now map on the Mount’s Cicada Web Site.
Folks, we just got word from Gene Kritsky that an adult was reported emerging in Maderia, Ohio today. The emergence has begun; expect large numbers of cicadas to start appearing within the next 10 days in most areas. Get your cameras, camcorders, audio recording devices and fishing rods ready.
From Gene:
I had my first report of an adult periodical cicada emerging in Madeira, a suburb of Cincinnati today. So the early ones are starting.
Read the news story.
Earlier I wrote about Matt Berger’s experiment to coerce a nymph to emerge as an adult in captivity. The experiment worked.
Here’s the latest pictures. The cicada has assumed its final, black-colored adult form:
The USDA National Agriculture Library has published the full 148 page bulletin from 1898 titled The periodical cicada: an account of Cicada septendecim, its natural enemies and the means of preventing its injury : together with a summary of the distribution of the different broods.
The document is viewable as images or in PDF form, and features an abundance of information, and excellent, now public domain illustrations (like those below).
Matt Berger was able to coerce a cicada nymph to enter the adult phase (instar) by raising it indoors (where it is warmer). Congratulations to Matt!
I took a Brood XIV nymph i found under a rock about a week ago, put some soil in a pot, poked a cicada sized hole in the soil and let the cicada burrow in. I wanted to see if I could make them emerge early. I put it in my house where it is warm. It worked! I now have a male (im guessing M. cassini) that just emerged from that hole and shed his skin and is now drying. Probably the first Magicicada to emerge all year! Earliest emergence I have ever heard of (even if it was assisted). Thought it might be interesting for Cicadamania.
Here are some pictures!
Here’s the nymph:
Here’s the adult leaving the nymph skin:
Here’s the teneral adult, still white in color (I will turn black soon enough):
Gene Kritsky awaiting their noisy return:
UPI: Scientist awaits cicadas’ noisy return
Gene Kritsky, a professor of biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph, said this year most of the bugs are expected to appear in the area east of Interstate 71.
The Enquirer Cicadas making noisy return
Gene Kritsky, a professor of biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph, says in a news release that cicadas are coming to eastern Cincinnati this May.
Video:
NECN.com: Cicada pheomenon interview with entomologist Doug Fraser. Very good.
A Kentucky article:
News Channel 5: Cicadas ready to reappear in Kentucky after 17 years
Gene Kritsky, a cicada expert at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, says their appearance will be spotty. That could be caused by a number of factors, including development that has dramatically changed landscapes since the early 1990s.
A Cape Cod artlce:
Cape Cod Times: Creeped out by creepy-crawly season on Cape
Periodical cicadas went underground on the Cape 17 years ago, and have been living off tree sap ever since. Experts expect them to emerge from their holes all at once, probably on a night in early May. They can number in the millions per acre, and cling to any vertical surface after coming from their holes, to molt, then fly up into the tree tops to mate.
