Cicada Mania

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Genera of cicadas.

June 22, 2016

Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania Magicicada Emergence

Filed under: Brood V | Magicicada | Periodical — Tags: — Dan @ 9:12 pm

There was an unexpected* emergence of periodical cicadas in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania this spring. Experts believe it is a disjunct brood related to Brood XIV. Brood XIV is found in the area, according to entomologist and Pennsylvania-based periodical cicada mapper Marten Edwards, but perhaps not in the exact same specific locations. Brood II is also in the area but on the other side of the mountain. Although this group of cicadas emerged the same year as Brood V, it probably is not related (genetically & evolutionary), but that is TBD.

The terrain of the Jim Thorpe area is comprised of mountains & valleys belonging to the Appalachian Mountain system of the Eastern United States. I observed cicadas on mountainsides and in lower valley areas. They seemed most plentiful and gregarious on the edges of the forest, preferring small, young maple trees where they gathered, sang, paired off, mated and died. Although their numbers were lesser deep in the woods, I did find exit holes and exuvia there. The most interesting discovery was finding a fully sclerotized, but dead, adult cicada within an overturned teacup left in the shade of an old tree. I discovered a few “cicada chimneys”, vertical structures made of soil surrounding exit holes, under pine trees where the cicadas seemed to need to extra hight to get above the thick layer of pine needles that littered the forest floor.

The best populations seemed to be along the Lehigh Gorge Trail from its entrance on Main Street to the Lehigh Gorge, and north, up the mountain the Lehigh Gorge Trail circumscribes, all the way to Lehigh Gorge Drive. The trees along Route 903, starting at Old Pipeline Road and heading south, were loaded with active cicadas — so many, that it was hard to avoid their flying bodies as I drove towards downtown Jim Thorpe.

If you want to see them, go this weekend (June 24-26). They were plentiful in the Lehigh Gorge area:
Lehigh Gorge

The population seems to be entirely made up of Magicicada septendecim. No Magicicada cassini or septendecula were found (so far).

A Carolina Grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina) next to a “Locust” (Magicicada septendecim).
Grasshopper and Cicada
More photos from this emergence in the gallery.

Locals were calling them “Locusts” — sometimes I forget that’s what folks call them, but of course they’re really cicadas.

Sound files: all are Magicicada septendecim

A single call:

A Spectrogram of its call:

Magicicada septedecim spectrogram

Multiple males calling:

An extra-weird call around 11-12 seconds:

You can here some wing flicks in this one:

*Unexpected as cicada researchers were not expecting it, but locals probably knew about it.

Post script:

I found a scan of a news paper from 1880 (The Carbon advocate., March 06, 1880, Lehighton, Pa.) that mentions that “locusts” would emerge in the area in the summer. “Locust” is, of course, a common misnomer for cicada, the Carbon Advocate was the paper for the Mauch Chunk (Jim Thorpe) area, and 1880 was 8 x 17 years ago:

News Clipping

June 15, 2016

Periodical cicada photos and video from Brood V

Filed under: Brood V | Magicicada | Matt Berger | Periodical | Video — Dan @ 6:30 pm

I took a lot of cicada photos and video when I traveled to Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio. Matt Berger also contributed a gallery of cicada photos to the site.

Some of my photos:

Red and Orange eyes; Brood V

Magicicada exuvia on an oak leaf_sm

Magicicada white eyes

Photos of the Brood V emergence by Matt Berger.

A sample of Matt’s photos. Click/tab for larger versions:

A Variety of Eye Colors by Matt Berger

A Variety of Eye Colors by Matt Berger. Brood V.

Gray Eyed Cicada Up Close by Matt Berger

Gray Eyed Cicada Up Close by Matt Berger. Brood V.

Molting Cicadas:

Magicicada with White Eyes:

More videos.

May 21, 2016

Brood V 17-Year Cicadas Due in Spring of 2016

Filed under: Brood V | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 7:00 pm

Brood V will next emerge in 3033.

This page was last updated in 2016.

Brood VBrood V (5) 17-year cicadas have emerged, this spring of 2016, in Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia & West Virginia.

Latest Updates:
(7/4/16): It’s a wrap! I’m sure there are some periodical cicadas hanging on out there, but for the most part, the emergence should be over. I hope you had fun.

(6/26/16): By now you should see (and hear) sharp declines in cicada populations. They’ll be gone in most places by July 4th. You should start to see Flagging of tree limbs where the cicadas lay their eggs. This is a natural part of the process.

New: Use our checklist to keep track of your Brood V experience!

Gene Kritsky has updated his book “In Your Backyard: Periodical Cicadas“. It is available for the low price of $4.99 for Kindle and Kindle readers. Totally worth it.

About Brood V:

The cicada species that will emerge are Magicicada cassinii (Fisher, 1852), Magicicada septendecim (Linnaeus, 1758), and Magicicada septendecula Alexander and Moore, 1962. These periodical cicadas have a 17-year life cycle. The last time they emerged was 1999.

When: Generally speaking, these cicadas will begin to emerge when the soil 8″ beneath the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit. A nice, warm rain will often trigger an emergence. So, definitely May, but something might happen in April if we have a particularly hot spring.

Locations where they are likely to emerge:

This data comes from the Cicada Central Magicicada Database and other sources.

Although the cicadas will emerge in MD, NY, OH, PA, VA, and WV, the area is limited and patchy. No Brood V cicadas for D.C., Cincinnati, or NYC (people have asked). Their range is closer to this map (with cicadas in the orange areas):

Brood V range

Maryland:

Counties: Garrett.

New York:

Specific locations in L.I.:

  • Wildwood State Park – Confirmed!

Counties: Suffolk (Long Island).

Ohio:

Specific locations in Ohio:

  • The emergence should be good in the south eastern part of the state and in Summit, Medina, and southern Cuyahoga counties1.
  • Hocking State Forest, Hocking county, which is where James Edward Heath performed his investigation of periodical cicada Thermal Synchronization2.
  • Tar Hollow State Forest, in Laurelville, Hocking County, Ohio.
  • Strouds Run State Park, in Canaan Township, Athens County.
  • Athens, Athens County, Ohio
  • Findley State Park, Lorain County, Ohio.

Counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Fairfield, Franklin, Gallia, Geauga, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Lawrence, Licking, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Meigs, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Portage, Richland, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Vinton, Washington, Wayne

Thanks to Roy Troutman, John Cooley, Chris Simon and Gene Kritsky for the tips!

Pennsylvania:

Counties: Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland

Virginia:

Specific locations in Virginia:

  • Douthat State Park, in Bath & Allegheny County Virginia.

Counties: Allegheny, Augusta, Bath, Highland, Richmond, Rockingham, Shenandoah

West Virginia:

Counties: Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Monongalia, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood

Learn more about Brood V:

For historical purposes, Here’s C. L. Marlatt’s map from 1914:

Marlatt, C.L.. 1914. The periodical cicada in 1914. United States. Bureau of Entomology. Brood Map for Brood V.
Marlatt, C.L.. 1914. The periodical cicada in 1914. United States. Bureau of Entomology

1 Kritsky, G., J. Smith, and N. T. Gallagher. 1999. The 1999 emergence of the periodical cicada in Ohio (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada spp. Brood V). Ohio Biological Survey Notes 2:43-47.

2 Thermal Synchronization of Emergence in Periodical “17-year” Cicadas (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada) by James Edward Heath, American Midland Naturalist, Vol.80, No. 2. (Oct., 1968), pp. 440-448.

* The map is based on this map from the Wikimedia Commons by Lokal_Profil.

May 19, 2016

The anatomy of a freshly molted cicada

Filed under: Anatomy | Magicicada | Video — Dan @ 6:19 pm

This video points some of the anatomical features of a freshly molted Magicicada, like it’s tarsal claws, rostrum, clypeus, stylets, and spiracles.

The video was made with Camtasia and Pixelmator — nothing fancy; just a quick video for people experiencing molting cicadas for the first time.

May 12, 2016

Cicada Straggler Alert 2016

Filed under: Magicicada | Periodical Stragglers — Dan @ 9:29 pm

Straggler Alert

The point of this article is that you should be on the alert for Magicicada periodical cicadas, no matter what year it is, and if you see or hear them, report them.

Stragglers, in terms of cicadas, are periodical cicadas that emerge in years prior to (precursors) or after their brood is expected to emerge. Most often, 17 year cicada stragglers emerge four years prior to their expected emergence date — but it is possible for periodical cicadas to emerge between 8 years earlier and 4 years later than expected. Read more about cicada stragglers.

This year (2016) Brood IX stragglers should emerge in southern West Virginia, western Virginia and the north-middle part of North Carolina that connects with western Virginia. See a map here.

Looking at the live map on Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org), it is obvious that most reports come from Brood V and stragglers appear to be emerging in the Brood IX & VI areas as expected — however, there are a fair number of reports in the Brood II and X areas, which is odd.

Map

  • Red: Brood V
  • Orange: Brood IX, 4 years early (most probable)
  • Yellow: Brood VI, 1 year early (probable)
  • Green: Brood II, 3 years late (rare, but possible)
  • Dark Green: Brood X, 5 years early (rare, but possible)

As stated before, it is common for periodical cicadas to emerge 4 years early, but 5 years early is rare. So why Brood X be stragglers this year? That requires a little more thought.

Now we enter the realm of conjecture…

Rick Karban in the paper How 17-year cicadas keep track of time1 demonstrated how you can get cicadas to emerge earlier than expected if you alter the seasonal cycles of their host trees. Make the tree experience two cycles in one year, the cicadas will read this as “two years have passed” and they’ll emerge a year earlier. So, in the case of Brood X stragglers, it could be that their host trees experienced weather fluctuations that caused them to do something that signaled the cicadas that 2 years had passed. Add the 4 years they would likely straggle + 1 year caused by fluctuations from the host tree, and that makes for a 5 year straggler.

The other day wethertrends360 posted this on their facebook page:

Growing Degree Days tell us why the Northeast had such an early surge in plant growth but then slowed. From late February to early April temperatures were near record warm in the Northeast with the 2nd most Growing Degree Days (GDD) in 25 years (chart/map left). This allowed plants to emerge way too early and then the freezes came!

Perhaps this early surge in plant growth, then a freeze, then growth again seemed like two years had passed to some cicadas. Perhaps.

1 How 17-year cicadas keep track of time, Richard Karban, Carrie A. Black1 and Steven A. Weinbaum, Ecology Letters (2000) 3 : 253-256.

May 7, 2016

Magicicada Media Faux Pas

Filed under: Chris Simon | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 7:38 am

cicada invasion

The media (news papers, bloggers, etc.) sometimes use terms to describe cicadas, and periodical cicada emergences, that range from simply incorrect to grossly hyperbolic. It is unclear if they do this to match reader expectations, to get more clicks, to write a more entertaining article, or simply because they don’t have all the facts. It bothers me when the media uses a photo or video of the wrong species, which is why I have the use the correct image page.

What media mistakes have you witnessed? Let us know in the comments.

Professor Chris Simon, of the University of Connecticut Simon Lab, is one of the premier cicada experts in the world. She provided us with her list of Magicicada Media Faux Pas (below). How many of these have you seen? Can you think of more?

Incorrect Descriptive Words

  • “swarm” They don’t swarm—i.e. fly around in large groups.
  • “invasion” They don’t invade. They have been there the whole time.
  • “plague”
    They are not a plague like grasshoppers that come in and eat everything–they don’t chew leaves. They suck.
  • “overrun” Implies that they are imposing us when in fact we are much more of an imposition on them–clearing their trees and building Walmarts on top of them.

Here are some more funny ones…

  • “lurking underground” They are not lurking or threatening, they are innocently feeding on tree roots.
  • “hatching out of the ground” They don’t hatch out of the ground, they hatched from eggs in tree branches 17years ago.

April 30, 2016

64 Degrees Fahrenheit Eight Inches Deep

Filed under: James Edward Heath | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 1:22 am

hot under the exoskeleton

Soil temperature triggers periodical cicada emergences:

James Edward Heath in his paper Thermal Synchronization of Emergence in Periodical “17-year” Cicadas (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada)1 discovered that periodical cicadas will emerge, on average, when the soil 8 inches below the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit:

Soil temperature at 20-cm [7.87 in] depth in seven locations averaged 17.89 C [64.202 F] at the time of emergence, regardless of date. Cicadas emerging from burrows had average body temperatures of 18.04 C [64.472 F]. Synchrony in emergence may be due to animals reaching a critical threshold temperature.

The soil warms their bodies and that triggers the cicadas to emerge.

A warm rain, which will seep into the earth and warm the bodies of cicadas, can trigger a “particularly intensive” emergence.

Alexander and Moore (1962) noted that emergences were particularly intensive following warm rains ( > 2 0 C ? ). I believe this suggests that the soil temperature probably was near emergence temperature and the heat transported by the water percolating into the ground warmed the soil sufficiently to raise soil temperature above the emergence threshold.

Some unanswered questions I have are: 1) how long does the temperature have to be 64°F+ – just a moment, or a certain number of hours, and 2) because we know not all cicadas emerge instantaneously, what is the maximum temperature that for certain will clear them from the soil?

This is an example of a temperature probe use to study the emergence temperature of cicadas. The probe in this picture is held by cicada researcher Gene Kritsky:
Gene Kristsky's Cicada Thermometer

Note that males typically emerge before females and that the larger ‘decim species emerge before the smaller cassini species.

For a more modern, crowd-sourced study of this see the radiolab Cicada Tracker project.

I think I know what you’re thinking: “I don’t own a temperature probe, how can I guess when the temperature is 64°F 8” below the soil? Direct sunlight, air temperature, and rain warms the soil. Southern facing land will warm sooner than northern facing land. Land in direct sunlight will warm faster than land in shade. Rainfall on an 80°+ day will quickly do the trick, but two weeks of temps in the 70°’s should work as well. So keep an eye on the 10-day weather forecast and watch for those days in the 70s, and especially the 80s.

Minimum Flight Temperature:
Their body temperature needs to be a little warmer than that to fly. Their minimum flight temperature (MFT) is 18-21°C / 65-70°F. The temperature varies depending on the Brood and species. They’ll need a few more degrees before they’re fully functional, and start singing and mating.

So, until their bodies are about 72°F (“room temperature”) they won’t be flying, singing and mating.

Maximum voluntary tolerance temperature:
Maximum voluntary tolerance temperature (MVT) for periodical cicadas is 31-34°C / 88-93°F, again depending on Brood and species. Maximum voluntary tolerance is the point at which cicadas seek shade and when thermoregulation takes precedence over other behaviors.

See Thermal responses of periodical cicadas: within and between brood parity (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada spp.) and Thermoregulation by Endogenous Heat Production in Two South American Grass Dwelling Cicadas (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Proarna) for more information.

1 Thermal Synchronization of Emergence in Periodical “17-year” Cicadas (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada) by James Edward Heath, American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 80, No. 2. (Oct., 1968), pp. 440-448.

April 28, 2016

Okanagana noveboracensis (Emmons, 1854)

Filed under: Okanagana — Tags: — Dan @ 9:02 pm

Okanagana noveboracensis (Emmons, 1854)

Cicadettana calliope floridensis (Davis, 1920)

Filed under: Cicadettana | William T. Davis — Tags: — Dan @ 8:49 pm

Cicadettana calliope floridensis (Davis, 1920)

April 27, 2016

Clidophleps blaisdellii (Uhler, 1892)

Filed under: Clidophleps | Philip Reese Uhler — Tags: , , — Dan @ 9:09 pm

Clidophleps blaisdellii (Uhler, 1892)

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