Cicada ManiaGenera of cicadas.
Here are two Cicada Killer Wasp photos by Elias Bonaros. The Cicada Killer Wasp has captured a Neotibicen tibicen tibicen cicada. These photos are from 2009.
Yes, Elias is holding the wasp and cicada on has hand!
Click the image for a larger version:
Cicada Killer Wasp and Neotibicen tibicen:
Cicada Killer Wasp and Neotibicen tibicen:
Mary Rotter Fullerton found, or rather heard and recorded, a Brood XIII Magicicada cassini straggler on October 2nd, 2023, in Park Ridge, Illinois! This cicada emerged 7 months early!
Listen to the edited file (volume increased, background noise removed):
There are squirrel sounds in the mix as well.
Mary says:
Very cool, I have never heard one in fall. It was in a 50-year old maple tree that hosted many stragglers (early Brood XIII?) this past spring of 2023. Park Ridge, IL.
Spectrogram:
David Marshall of InsectSingers.com confirmed that this is indeed a Magicicada cassini.
David says:
Yes to me that’s unquestionably a set of cassini calls. There are some literature records of autumn Magicicada, sometimes with speculation that it’s related to sudden late-season warmups.
It looks like there’s been quite a few fall stragglers, according to the Magicicada Straggler project on iNaturalist.
Here’s an awesome photo of a Fall Southeastern Dusk-Singing Cicada by Riley Campbell:
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Click for a bigger image.
More information about Megatibicen figuratus (Walker, 1858) aka Fall Southeastern Dusk-singing Cicada.
Occasionally similar cicada species mate and form hybrids. Neotibicen linnei aka Linne’s Cicada exists in most of New Jersey and Neotibicen winnemanna aka Eastern Scissors Grinder exists in central and south-western New Jersey. These two species are known to hybridize. The other day I heard a cicada and wasn’t quite sure what it was. The tone sounded like Linne’s Cicada but the rhythm was like the Eastern Scissors Grinder. Is it a hybrid? The good people over on the Cicada Discussion, Science and Study Group say it’s likely a hybrid.
Here’s the audio:
Maybe the most interesting thing is proof of the existence of Eastern Scissors Grinder in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Others have heard them in East Brunswick as well.
Spectrogram:
Or listen on YouTube:
The last Neotibicen tibicen tibicen I found in 2023, on August 13th.
SoNtt Calendar: July 16th, July 22nd, July 23rd part 1, July 23rd part 2, July 24th, July 26th, July 27th, July 28th, July 29th, July 30th part 1, July 30th part 2, August 1st, August 4th, August 9th, August 11th, August 13th.
Neotibicen tibicen tibicen for August 11th.
SoNtt Calendar: July 16th, July 22nd, July 23rd part 1, July 23rd part 2, July 24th, July 26th, July 27th, July 28th, July 29th, July 30th part 1, July 30th part 2, August 1st, August 4th, August 9th, August 11th, August 13th.
This is the August 9th edition of the Summer of Neotibicen tibicen tibicen cicadas.
A Neotibicen tibicen tibicen molting:
Another Neotibicen tibicen tibicen molting:
SoNtt Calendar: July 16th, July 22nd, July 23rd part 1, July 23rd part 2, July 24th, July 26th, July 27th, July 28th, July 29th, July 30th part 1, July 30th part 2, August 1st, August 4th, August 9th, August 11th, August 13th.
My family and I captured and molted over 50 Neotibicen cicadas in 2023. We molt them in butterfly pavilions and then release them the next day. Most are Neotibicen tibicen tibicen (Morning cicadas).
Here’s the collection of exuvia (skins) as of August 4th.
SoNtt Calendar: July 16th, July 22nd, July 23rd part 1, July 23rd part 2, July 24th, July 26th, July 27th, July 28th, July 29th, July 30th part 1, July 30th part 2, August 1st, August 4th, August 9th, August 11th, August 13th.
This is the August 1st edition of the Summer of Neotibicen tibicen tibicen.
This cicada has molted and its wings have filled with fluid and are in place, ready to harden. It is a male.
SoNtt Calendar: July 16th, July 22nd, July 23rd part 1, July 23rd part 2, July 24th, July 26th, July 27th, July 28th, July 29th, July 30th part 1, July 30th part 2, August 1st, August 4th, August 9th, August 11th, August 13th.
Update: originally I had Megatibicen grossa, but the name is Megatibicen grossus so the gender of the words align.
Megatibicen auletes (Germar, 1834) aka Northern Dusk Singing Cicada is changing to Megatibicen grossus(Fabricius, 1775). This cicada is the largest cicada in North America and is found in the following states in July-August: AL, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MS, MO, NE, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI.
The change comes from the paper: Sanborn, A.F. (2023) Resolving taxonomic issues of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) including new combinations, new synonymies, and revised status, with updates on the diversity of the Brazilian cicada fauna and new records for four South American countries. Zootaxa, VOL. 5318 NO. 3: 20 JUL. 2023, 339-362. DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5318.3.2.
Megatibicen grossus (as in BIG FLUTE PLAYER BIG):
Reading the paper referenced above, it sounds like Johan Christian Fabricius incorrectly identified an specimen as being from Brazil. He named it Tettigonia grossa in 1775. Allen F. Sanborn compared the holotype of Tettigonia grossa with the holotype for Megatibicen auletes (Cicada auletes) and determined it was the same insect. Since old names take precedence over new names, auletes become grossa.