Categories
Annual Roy Troutman Tibicen

Walker’s Cicada aka Megatibicen pronotalis (aka T. walkeri, T. marginalis)

Roy Troutman sent us these amazing photos of a female Walker’s Cicada aka Megatibicen pronotalis (aka T. walkeri, T. marginalis) taken in Batavia, Ohio. As you can guess by the various akas (also known as), the Megatibicen pronotalis has been known by several species names in the past. Sometimes it takes cicada researchers a while to figure out that two different species are the same species (which is probably the case here). Tibicen pronotalis also sounds exactly like another species of Tibicen: Megatibicen dealbatus. The major difference between the M. pronotalis and the M. dealbatus is the M. dealbatus has more pruinose than the M. pronotalis. Pruinose is the white, chalky substance that appears on the bodies of cicadas.

Megatibicen pronotalis photo by Roy Troutman, taken in Batavia, Ohio

Megatibicen pronotalis photo by Roy Troutman, taken in Batavia, Ohio

Megatibicen pronotalis photo by Roy Troutman, taken in Batavia, Ohio

Megatibicen pronotalis photo by Roy Troutman, taken in Batavia, Ohio

Walker’s Cicada is found in 18 mid-western and southern states. Read more about this pretty cicada on Bug Guide, and listen to its song on Insect Singers.

Categories
Annual Tibicen Video

It’s the season for annual cicadas

The Brood XIX (and Brood IV stragglers) are all but gone, but annual species of cicadas are emerging around the United States right now. The various annual species of cicadas differ from periodical cicadas in many ways. Annual cicadas emerge in limited numbers every year, they are not organized into broods, they tend to be timid and camouflaged to match their environment, and while their life cycles are longer than a year, they are not as long as 13 or 17 years.

The most common annual cicada east of the Rockies is probably the various species of the Tibicen genus. There are also cicadas belonging to the Diceroprocta, Neocicada, and Okanagana genera out and about now.

Use the Insect Singers website to help match the species to their song.

Eclosing Tibicen tibicen by Dan from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Categories
Brood XIX Magicicada Periodical

Best Cicada News of the Week: Cicada Ice Cream?!

Brood XIX News

You can see the latest 500 cicada sightings on magicicada.org. Visit their “2011 Brood XIX sightings” map. The latest reports are from Illinois and Missouri.

The latest Science Cabaret Podcast is about cicadas, and in particular, the relationship of birds and cicadas. The podcast features Dr. Walt Koenig and is hosted by Dr. Holly.

I enjoyed this blog post Kingdom of the Cicadas. It features photos and videos of the emergence from Joplin, Missouri.

Cicada Ice Cream

There were a lot of news stories about Sparky’s Ice Cream shop in Columbia, Missouri, and their cicada ice cream. After reading dozens of articles, it seems that they only made one batch, and the local health official(s) only advised them not to make the ice cream, but did not specifically or legally stop them from making it.

Related… cicada pie, pizza and tacos courtesy of the University of Maryland’s PDF cookbook. The cookbook is circa 2004 (Brood X) but they still work.

Categories
Brood XIX Magicicada

Best Brood XIX Cicada News of the Week for May 29-June 4

Brood XIX emergence update

Looking at the Cicadas @ UCONN emergence map it appears that the cicadas have emerged everywhere they’re expected to emerge.

The next question is, when will they be gone? Local emergences typically last between four to six weeks, starting from the first emerging nymph, to the last dead cicada. I wouldn’t expect any cicadas around today to be around on Independence Day. Their corpses will be around though – so don’t forget to rake them up.

White Eyed Cicada Contest

The White Eyed Cicada Contest is over and 10 people won I Love Cicada pins. Congratulations to Joey Simmons of Nashville, TN, Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN, Serena Cochrane of Gerald MO, Melissa Han of Nashville TN, Jane and Evan Skinner of Troy MO, Phyllis Rice of Poplar Bluff MO, Jack Willey of Nashville TN, Chris Lowry of Nashville TN, Nathan Voss of Spring Hill TN, and Paul Stuve of Columbia, MO.

white eyed Magicicada from 2011

Cicada Videos

The Kenyon Media Group produced this video that demonstrates the cicada’s affinity for the sound of power tools. Educational and hilarious. You must watch it. Cicadas are attracted to the sound of power tools and lawn maintenance equipment because they think the sound is coming from other cicadas.

Do you like cicada song parodies? This song parodies Faith Hill’s song Breathe but it’s called Breed. Not sure who the singer is, but she’s fantastic.

This news report from CBS is pretty good, as far as cicada news reports go. It features John Cooley of Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org), and Elias Bonaros‘ live Magicicada collection. “Betty Nguyen reports from Simpson, Ill on the return of cicadas – as part of their normal, 13-year cycle – and a young boy’s fascination with the bug”. Sorry no embedded video.

Cicada Humor

Rest in Peace Nashville Cicada on Twitter. @TNCicada – his corpse is rotten, but he won’t be soon forgotten.

True story: someone called the police on the cicadas. Who drops a dime on a decim?

Eating Cicadas

Sadly, Sparky’s Ice Cream has sold out of their cicada flavored ice cream.

The art of eating cicadas. Just don’t choke on them.

Cicada Tea! I pity the person who drinks cicada tea!

Categories
Brood XIX Magicicada

Best Brood XIX Cicada News of the Week for May 22-28

Brood XIX emergence update

Every state is accounted for except for Louisiana at this point. Roy Troutman was able to confirm the appearance of Magicicadas in Indiana, and a pocket of Magicicadas were discovered in Maryland. See Team Cicada’s Facebook Page for more information.

There have been a number of reports from Kansas, but that might be Brood IV (a 17 year variety) stragglers emerging 4 years early, or perhaps Brood IV(4) is accelerating to join Brood XIX.

White-eyed Cicada Contest

There’s been two more winners in our White-Eyed Cicada Contest:

Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN:

White-eyed Magicicada from Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN. Brood XIX. 2011.

Serena Cochrane of Gerald MO:
White-eyed cicada from Serena Cochrane of Gerald, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Categories
Brood XIX Eye Color Magicicada Video

Cicada Contest: Find a Cicada with White Eyes and Win a Prize

The White-eyed cicada contest is complete!

I had ten “I Love Cicada” pins sitting in a bag in my office. Ten people found a white-eyed cicada, sent me a photo and won “I Love Cicadas pins”!

Our first pin winner is Joey Simmons of Nashville, TN:
White eyed Magicicada from Joey Simmons of Nashville, TN. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our second winner is Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN:
White-eyed Magicicada from Meagan Lang of Nashville, TN. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our third winner is Serena Cochrane of Gerald MO:
White-eyed cicada from Serena Cochrane of Gerald, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our fourth winner is Melissa Han of Nashville TN:
White Eyed cicada found by Melissa Ham in Nashville TN

Our fifth winners are Jane and Evan Skinner of Troy MO:
White-Eyed Magicicada found by Jane and Evan Skinner of Troy, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our sixth winner is Phyllis Rice of Poplar Bluff MO:
White-Eyed Magicicada found by Phyllis Rice of Poplar Bluff, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our seventh winner is Jack Willey of Nashville TV:
White-eyed Magicicada found by Jack Willey of Nashville TV

Our eighth winner is Chris Lowry of Nashville TN:
White-eyed cicada from Paul Stuve found in Columbia, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our ninth winner is Nathan Voss of Spring Hill TN :
White-eyed cicada found by Nathan Voss of Spring Hill, TN. Brood XIX. 2011.

Our tenth and final winner is Paul Stuve of Columbia, MO:
White-eyed cicada from Paul Stuve found in Columbia, MO. Brood XIX. 2011.

Here’s the prize pins:

White eyed Magicicada by Dan from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Categories
Brood XIX Magicicada Periodical

Best Brood XIX Cicada News of the Week

Here’s a rundown of some of the best Brood XIX cicada news and multimedia from the week.

Emergence status:

It appears that Brood XIX’s emergence is now underway in every state they were supposed to emerge in, with the exception of Louisiana, but that could be that no one has reported in from Louisiana yet. You can see the progress of the emergence on Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org)’s 2011 Brood XIX Map. I’m starting to hear that the emergence is winding down in Georgia, while it’s just getting started in Illinois.

Brood XIX is truly the first periodical cicada emergence where social media (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo) became the primary method that people used to share and learn about cicada news and media. The Cicada Mania Facebook Page has been very active all throughout the emergence with many people sharing excellent photos and videos. I’ve been sharing the latest cicada news stories on the CicadaMania Twitter feed. If you want to keep up with the latest cicada news stories, Twitter is a great place to start.

The first white eyed cicada

Here is the first image of a white-eyed Brood XIX cicada that I’ve seen. The credit goes to biologizer on Flickr.

White eyed Cicada

If you’re on Flickr, you can add your photos to the Cicada Photos group, or if you simply want to see all the cicada photos showing up daily, search for cicadas.

The first Cicada Mania Brood XIX gallery

Thanks to David Green of North Eastern Arkansas for these photos of a Magicicada tredecassini.

Brood XIX Magicicada photos from North Eastern Arkansas taken by David Green. 2011.

Time Lapse videos of cicadas eclosing

A couple of time lapse videos of a cicada eclosing (leaving their old skin and becoming an adult) caught my eye:

Brood XIX Periodical Cicada 2011 from Mark Dolejs on Vimeo.

Interview of the Week

Dr. John Cooley of Cicadas @ UCONN was interviewed by Ira Flatow on Science Friday. Listen to the interview.

Cicada Humor

Singer / Songwriter Kathy Ashworth wrote a song called Sick of Cicadas, which you can listen to on her website.

This A Basic Guide to the Meaning of the Letters on Cicada Wings (pdf) will help you… figure out what the letters that appear on cicada wings mean.

More cicada videos

Here are some cicada videos that really stood out:

What else?

If you want to send in a cicada news story, video, etc, email us at cicadamania@gmail.com or find us on twitter at @cicadamania.

A word from our sponsor: The best way to remember a cicada emergence is with cicada apparel or mugs.

Categories
Magicicada Periodical

Periodical cicada fun facts to help you survive a cicada invasion

Cicadas and Temperature

Cold weather across the U.S. seems to have slowed the Magicicada emergence. It is true that cold temperatures will deter nymphs from emerging, and stop adult cicadas from flying around and singing. Cicadas are “cold-blooded” so they rely on air temperature and direct sunlight to warm up, and unless their bodies are warm enough, they won’t be able to fly, sing and mate. The black skin color of Magicicadas helps them warm up, just like how a black leather seat in a car gets hot to the touch in the summer.

Soil temperature is one of the indicators of when periodical cicada nymphs will begin to leave the ground. Typically they will start to emerge once the soil temperature reaches 18°C / 64°F or warmer (8″/20 cm beneath the soil surface).

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.

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.

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

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.

The damage they do

Cicadas don’t cause damage to trees by chewing leaves like other insects do. Instead, the damage is caused because they lay their eggs in grooves in the branches of trees. Cicadas are technically parasites of the trees, and they need the trees to survive throughout their entire life cycle, so killing trees is not in the cicadas best interest.

The weakest limbs of a tree are often temporarily damaged or killed off, the result of which is called flagging, as the leaves of the branch will turn brown and look like a flag. They are doing the trees a favor by pruning their weakest branches.

Young trees, ornamental trees, and fruit trees will be more prone to damage as they are typically smaller and weaker than older native hardwood trees. I recommend placing netting around these trees and picking the cicadas off by hand if you’re concerned. Spraying them off the trees with a hose seems to work as well. I don’t recommend filling a bucket with cicadas and dumping them in your neighbor’s yard, as they can fly back to your yard, and your neighbor will become enraged.

The blue tape works well too: check out this photo of cicadas that can’t make it past the tape.

Grooves made by a cicada:

egg nests

An image of Flagging caused by cicadas:

flagging

Do cicadas stink?!

Cicadas do stink, but only once they’re dead and rotting, like most creatures. When you get a pile of dead, wet cicadas they can kick up a serious funk, like putrefying bacon. It’s best to rake up their corpses ASAP, shovel them into a bucket or wheelbarrow, and then bury them, compost them, or use them for catfish or critter bait. Individual cicadas make excellent fish bait.

What do cicadas eat?

Cicadas don’t eat by chewing up leaves; instead, they drink their meals. Cicadas use their mouthparts to tap into trees and drink tree fluids called xylem. Occasionally you’ll see cicadas piercing a branch with their mouthparts to take a drink. They aren’t particularly smart, and occasionally mistake people for trees. Luckily cicadas are not venomous.

Do cicadas pee?

Yes, cicadas regularly pee to eliminate excess fluid. Allow me to recommend wearing a cicada hat.

Are cicadas attracted to the sound of lawnmowers and other machinery?

Yes, cicadas are attracted to the sound of lawnmowers, weed whackers, hedge trimmers, etc. Female cicadas think that these machines are males singing, and male cicadas show up to join the other males in what we call a “chorus”.

Why are there so many periodical cicadas?

Their strategy is called “predator satiation”. They reproduce by the millions in order to fill predators up. The idea is that all the squirrels, birds, possums, snakes, lizards, raccoons, varmints, teenagers and other predators will be so full of cicadas and tired of eating them, that a just enough cicadas will escape and get to mate and reproduce.

Think of it this way: Aunt Betsy and Uncle Steve always show up to the barbecue and eat up all the best cuts of meat; few if any meat escapes them. What you want to do is fill Betsy and Steve up with cheap snacks like pork rinds, chips, and Coke, so some of the meat will escape their grasp.

How long do they live?

Adults can live a few weeks, but they often don’t get to live that long, as many are born crippled, they get infected with mold, they run out of energy, they get eaten, etc.

An emergence can last locally up to 6 weeks from start to finish. They should all be dead six weeks after you see your first cicadas.

About 98% of cicadas die within the first two years of life. Imagine if they all survived to adulthood! There would be 4800% more of them.

What eats them when they’re underground?

When they’re underground they’re often eaten by moles, but enough of them escape the moles to survive.

Stragglers

If you have a lot of cicadas today, chances are you’ll have a couple next year. Not a lot, just a couple that forgot to emerge this year.

Other ideas to help you enjoy Brood XIX

Categories
Eye Color Magicicada Video

Look out for Magicicadas with white eyes

Most of the periodical cicadas you’ll see have red or reddish-orange eyes. A very small number, however, have white, blue, or yellow eyes. Some even have amazing multi-colored eyes. Have you seen any white eyed periodical cicadas yet? Be on the lookout for them, and make sure you take a photo or video when you see one. Have a contest with your friends and family to see who can find the first white or blue-eyed cicada. If you have a TV station, radio show or a local website, you could have a contest for who can find the first white eyed cicada. I personally have only found one white eyed cicada (video below), so I have to guess that the odds are at least one in 10,000.

Here’s a photo of a white eyed Magicicada cicada Roy Troutman found back in 2004:

Photo of a Magicicada cicada with white eyes by Roy Troutman.

Roy took a photo of a blue-eyed cicada, and I made a t-shirt from the image (I use the mug version for my morning coffee).

This is a video of white eyed cicada I recorded back in 2007:

White eyed Magicicada by Dan from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

All photos of periodical cicadas with different color eyes.

Categories
Brood XIX Magicicada Video

Watch a cicada transform

There are many interesting aspects of a periodical cicada emergence, including the length of time they spend underground, their massive numbers, their visual appearance, their amazing songs, and the variety of reactions people have to the cicadas. One of most amazing things you can witness during a cicada emergence is to watch cicadas emerge from the earth as nymphs, crawl up a tree, shed their skins, spread their wings and become adults.

Periodical cicadas will typically emerge over a period of several days. If you discover that cicadas have emerged in your yard by finding their skins (exuvia) or adult cicadas, chances are good more cicadas will emerge later that night. Filming a night-time cicada emergence is an excellent opportunity to use your HD Camcorders, Macro camera settings, and other technology you normally don’t get to use.

Here’s a guide to finding cicadas at night and ideas for filming them:

  1. Be prepared: Get your flashlights ready. Read the manual for your camera to learn about its night time settings, HD settings, Macro settings, etc. Make sure your camera is charged.
  2. Once the sun sets, head outside with your flashlight and camera. Carefully walk around beneath the branches of trees, shining your flashlight towards the ground. Cicada nymphs live along the entire root system of a tree, so they can emerge 15 or more feet away from the trunk. Watch this video of cicada nymphs to see what to look for. Listen: you can actually hear them walk through the grass and up the bark of a tree.
  3. Once you’ve spotted nymphs, you can start filming. I usually aim my flashlight at them, and then let the flash in my camera light them up for the photo.
  4. Once a nymph crawls up the tree, and finds a part of the tree that it likes, it will emerge from its skin and become an adult. The process of completely becoming an adult takes several hours, so this is a good opportunity to make a time-lapse movie.

Here is a series of stills from a movie Roy Troutman made of an eclosing Magicicada:

Step 1: The nymph grabs hold of a leaf

Nymphs will crawl around until they find a place to grab hold of with their tiny tarsal claws. Usually, they find part of a tree branch or leaf. Sometimes they find a car tire, a brick wall or a barbecue.

A nymph grabs hold of a leaf.

Step 2: The back of the cicada splits open, and the cicada pushes itself out.

The skin of the nymph splits open along the middle of its back, all the way up to its head. The cicada then pushes itself out back-first. You’ll notice that the cicada is white in color with two black spots on its back. At this point the cicada’s body is very soft — until a cicada’s body has hardened, we call them teneral, which means soft or tender in Latin.

The cicada pushes out of the nymph skin.

Step 3: With its abdomen anchored in the nymph skin, the cicada curls back, freeing its legs and spiracles.

The spiracles are the holes through which the cicada breathes. You’ll notice fine white strands connected to the nymph skin — those were once connected to the spiracles.

The cicada curls back, freeing its legs and spiracles.

Step 4: The cicada curls forward, grabs hold of its former skin, and frees its abdomen

The cicada then curls forward, and grabs hold of its former skin

Step 5: The cicada crawls away from its old skin and prepares to inflate its wings

The cicada crawls away from its old skin.

Step 6: The cicadas wings fill with fluid and expand

The cicada inflates its wings using haemolymph, a blood-like fluid also used to transport nutrients in a cicada’s body.

The cicadas wings fill with fluid and expand.

Wings expand to their final shape

Now, watch the entire video:

Magicicada nymph molting from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.

Step 7: The color of the cicada darkens and its body hardens

Once the cicada has expanded its wings, the cicadas will turn their final color and their bodies and wings will harden. Once the body and wings are sufficiently hardened, they are able to fly and sing.

The “finished product” looks like this:

Magicicada on my finger by Dan from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

I hope you have the opportunity to watch a nighttime cicada emergence! It can be a lot of fun.