Category: Periodical Stragglers

Categories
Magicicada Periodical Periodical Stragglers

Lookout for Stragglers in 2014

If you follow Cicada Mania, you’ve probably heard about the regularly scheduled emergences in Louisiana and Mississippi (Brood XXII); in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois (Brood III); and the (micro) brood in Ohio and Kentucky, BUT, there could be other Magicicada emerging around the USA.

Magicicada cicadas often straggle from the times they are expected to emerge. This can happen due to overcrowding (too many cicadas underground can delay the development and emergence of some). It could also be a natural thing they do — maybe some accelerate from a 17 year to 13 year life cycle, or back, to form new populations or as a strategy for survival. Most of the time they straggle in 1 year or 4 year intervals. Here is were I would expect to see stragglers.

  • Brood II 1-year (late) stragglers in CT, GA, MD, NC, NJ, NY, OK, PA, VA
  • Brood IV 1-year (early) stragglers in IA, KS, MO, NE, OK, TX
  • Brood XXIII 1-year (early) stragglers in AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, TN
  • Brood VII 4-year (early) stragglers in NY


Check our broods page for more precise locations and information.

This chart, courtesy of Chris Simon, details the probability for straggling:

Probability of Straggling chart from Chris Simon

If you see any stragglers, report them to Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org), so they can be mapped and studied. It looks like some Brood IV stragglers are showing up in the Kansas City area!

Kansas City

Of course, we’re only talking about the black & orange & red-eyed Magicicada here…
Magicicada septendecim

…not other species like Tibicen or Okanagana.

Categories
Brood III Brood VII Brood XXII Periodical Stragglers

Looking forward to the 2014 periodical cicada emergences

Magicicada I am excited about the 17 and 13 year cicada emergences expected in 2014.

Here is what we can look forward to:

  • Brood XXII, the Baton Rouge brood. This brood of 13 year Magicicada will emerge in Louisiana and Mississippi. When they emerge depends on the weather, but probably April to May.
  • Brood III, The Iowan Brood. This brood of 17 year Magicicada will emerge in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. This emergence will likely peak in June, depending on the weather.
  • A 13 Year cicada emergence in Ohio and Kentucky. This group of 13 Year Magicicada hasn’t officially been associated with a brood. May-June is my guess.
  • Stragglers from Broods II, IV, XXIII, and VII might emerge next year (see our brood chart for locations). The best bet will be Brood VII stragglers. Brood VII is located in upstate NY (June).

I’m looking forward to taking some vacation time and tracking cicadas. Brood XXII is a good excuse to visit New Orleans (even if it isn’t on the cicada map).

Fun fact: Brood III and XXII won’t emerge in the same year again until the year 2235.

Categories
Chris Simon Citizen Science Magicicada Periodical Periodical Stragglers

More crowd sourcing opportunities for cicada community scientists

I created a category for community scientist crowd sourcing projects. These are projects for you, the people, who want to help cicada researchers & scientists study cicadas.

Here are more ways you can help cicada researchers study cicadas:

Project 1:

Chris Simon and the Simon Cicada Lab need your help with a couple of projects:

We at the Simon Lab are anxious to get the word out that we are very interested in finding upcoming Brood II locations with lots of flagging (broken branches and wilted stems that should turn brown in late June or July or sooner down south).

When cicadas lay eggs they cause some damage to tree branches called flagging. It is easy to spot the brown patches of leaves. The Simon Lab want your sightings of flagging come the end of June and July.

A form to submit your sightings will be available soon.

flagging

Project 2:

Also we need to continue to crowd source locations of spring stragglers from any brood in any year.

A straggler is a periodical cicada that emerges years in advance of the rest of its brood. Typically they emerge four years in advance. An example of this is the cicadas that emerged in Ohio this year. Please let us know if you see a periodical cicada outside the Brood II area.

You can probably use this form for that.

Next year (2014), folks in western New York state might see some stragglers from Brood VII (due 2018) for example.

This chart will give you an idea of when stragglers can be expected. The best bet is -4 years for 17 year broods, and +4 for 13 year broods.

Probability of Straggling chart from Chris Simon

I’ve added straggler probabilities to this brood chart.

Note to self: read Periodical Cicada (Homoptera: Cicadidae) Life-Cycle Variations, the Historical Emergence Record, and the Geographic Stability of Brood Distributions by David Marshall.

Future projects:

There will be at least one more major crowd sourcing project coming soon. Stay tuned!

Categories
Brood VI Gene Kritsky Periodical Stragglers Roy Troutman

Finneytown Ohio 17 year Cicada Acceleration

Roy Troutman, Gene Kritsky and his wife Jess witnessed a Magicicada emergence in Finneytown Ohio tonight. It is believed that this could be an acceleration of a new Brood VI, or an eight year acceleration of Brood X.

From Roy:

We had an unexpected emergence in parts of the Cincinnati area last night & I got some pics with my new Canon t4i. Gene [Kritsky] & his wife Jess came out to witness it as well. I would say hundreds emerged in a very small suburb of Cincinnati called Finneytown. This could be 4 year acceleration of the new brood VI that Gene has been talking about verifying in 2017 or 8 year acceleration of Brood X.

Photos of these cicadas by Roy:

Finneytown OH Acceleration Magicicada Exuvia by Roy Troutman

Finneytown OH Acceleration Teneral Magicicada by Roy Troutman 2

Finneytown OH Acceleration Magicicada Nymph by Roy Troutman

Finneytown OH Acceleration Magicicada Exuvia by Roy Troutman 2

Finneytown OH Acceleration Magicicada Exuvia by Roy Troutman 3

Finneytown OH Acceleration Teneral Magicicada by Roy Troutman

Finneytown OH Acceleration Teneral Male Magicicada by Roy Troutman

Finneytown OH Acceleration Teneral Magicicada by Roy Troutman 3

Finneytown OH Acceleration Magicicada Nymph by Roy Troutman 2_jpg

Categories
Brood XIV Magicicada Periodical Stragglers Roy Troutman

Brood XIV decelleration observed by Roy Troutman

Here’s something neat. Roy Troutman discovered some Brood XIV Magicicadas emerging 4 years late in Ohio. That’s a “21 year cicada”. 🙂

Here’s the photos:

A Brood XIV Magicicada straggler, emerged 4 years late. in 2012 photo by Roy Troutman.

A Brood XIV Magicicada straggler, emerged 4 years late. in 2012 photo by Roy Troutman.

A Brood XIV Magicicada straggler, emerged 4 years late. in 2012 photo by Roy Troutman.

Gene Kritsky observed a similar unexpected emergence in 1995. See “The Unexpected 1995 Emergence of Periodical Cicadas (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada spp.) in Ohio”, Gene Kritsky and Sue Simon, Department of Biology, College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, OH. (OHIO J. SCI. 96 (1): 27-28, 1996). An excerpt from the article:

an excerpt from the article

Categories
Brood I Brood II Brood V Brood XIX Magicicada Periodical Periodical Stragglers

Look out for Brood II, Brood V and Brood XIX Stragglers

When is a 2012 Magicicada not a Brood I cicada? When it’s a straggler.

A straggler is a periodical cicada that emerges in a year before or after the year they are supposed to emerge. Typically a straggler will emerge one or four years before, or one year after the year they should have emerged. Stragglers from Broods II (due 2013), Brood V (due 2016) and Brood XIX (backin 2011) are or will emerge this year in limited numbers.

Brood II is set to emerge next year in most of central Virginia (as well as CT, MD, NC, NJ, NY, PA), Brood V will emerge in four years in Virginia and West Virginia (as well as OH, PA), and Brood XIX emerged last year in a few areas of Virginia (as well as AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KY, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN).

Stragglers present a challenge for people tracking the Brood I emergence because Brood II, Brood V and Brood XIX stragglers will emerge in the same states as Brood I cicadas. Brood II and Brood V overlap Brood I in some places.

Here is a comparison of the I,II & V Broods. The black dots represent where the cicadas have emerged historically.

2012 periodical cicada stragglers

Here’s a map of Brood XIX in case you are curious:
Marlatt 1907 19 Brood XIX

Visit Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) for more information on this phenomena, and report your cicada sightings while you’re there. Credit goes to the Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org)’s Facebook post that reminded me of the stragglers.

Categories
Brood XIV Periodical Stragglers Roy Troutman

Brood XIV Straggler in Ohio

Roy Troutman found this Brood XIV Magicicada straggler in the Cincinnati Ohio area this weekend. This cicada emerged 2 years after it should have. Amazing.

Brood XIV Straggler

Categories
Magicicada Periodical Stragglers

Look out for Magicicada stragglers – cicadas emerging early

Magicicada cicadas are emerging early across America! You might know them as periodical cicadas, 13 or 17 year cicadas, or “locusts”. When cicadas emerge early (or later) they’re called stragglers.

Chances are they’re from Brood XIX or Brood XXII:
– Brood XIX is set to emerge in AL, AR, GA, IN, IL, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, VA next year.
– Brood XXII is set to emerge in LA, MS in 2014.

If you see one of these cicadas, report them to Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org). Cicadas @ UCONN records the location of cicadas and adds them to a map, for scientific purposes.

Image of Magicicada:

Magicicadas

Here’s what they sound like:

More information:

All blog posts about Magicicada.

Categories
Elias Bonaros Magicicada Old Message Board Periodical Periodical Stragglers

2009 Magicicada Discussions

Note: no major broods emerged in 2009.

Mary — those are Tibicen cicadas, and they’ll be around for the rest of the summer.

Comment by Dan — August 20, 2009 [AT] 9:00 pm

Yes. Buy The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger. It has many songs of North American cicadas.

Comment by Dan — August 20, 2009 [AT] 11:55 am

Hi,
does anyone know of commercially available cicada song/call recordings?
I live in Philly Pa. &
we have annual cicadas.
Don’t know the specie
but it produces a metallic/castenet type of sound.I think it’s really cool.

Comment by Bob — August 20, 2009 [AT] 11:42 am

I have seen these in Northern VA/DC area the last two weeks….primarily at my front and back door lights in the evenings. I can hear the trees full of them, which compeltely freaks me out now that I know what they look like.

How long can I expect them to be hanging around town?

Comment by Mary — August 18, 2009 [AT] 5:42 pm

Hello Chris. The Periodical cicadas have come and gone (a small emergence was noted in New Jersey). I live in New York and heard an annual cicada call 2 days ago. They usually take another week or two before they begin a noticeable chorus. Lets keep our fingers crossed and keep listening.

Comment by Elias — July 5, 2009 [AT] 5:32 am

i have a question for the experts im in nj and have not heard cicadas yet and its early july are they going to come in late or not come due to the cold spring?

Comment by chris egan — July 4, 2009 [AT] 11:11 pm

I have more than a dozen holes in my garden and have seen about eight left shells on the house, tree or swing. I have seen this Cicada (see website: http://agiesea.blogspot.com/2009/06/was-ist-das-fur-ein-insekt.html) about two weeks ago and now the neighbor hood is full of the singing. Not all time but loud. What brood is it and what type of Cicada is it. I come originally from Germany and never heard about Cicadas. My position is Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Comment by Drachenfanger — June 30, 2009 [AT] 5:51 pm

Magicicada (the red eyed periodical cicada) ususally are done by the beginning of July in most northern areas. The latest I caught one here was July 2nd in Brookhaven, Long Island. This was last year during the very end of Brood XIV.

Comment by Elias — June 30, 2009 [AT] 7:55 am

How long do they keep up their racket?

Comment by Pam — June 24, 2009 [AT] 12:21 am

Day 20 for my Magicicada and she is no more. Almost 3 weeks, the longest I ever kept one in captivity. Hopefully there are some stragglers still left out there although the cool and rainy weather is not helping at all!

Comment by Elias — June 20, 2009 [AT] 7:18 am

Day 16 for the female from Staten Island. She is still going strong. This is the longest I have ever kept a cicada alive in captivity. Has anyone else seen any Magicicada? May make a trip to Brookhaven soon to see if there was any activity from Brood XIV. Last trip to Fanwood and S.I. revealed no cicadas.

Comment by Elias — June 15, 2009 [AT] 7:20 pm

Day 14 for the Magicicada septendecim female that was captured in Staten Island. A few days ago she oviposited. Not clear if she was able to mate with one of the New Jersey males as she was fairly young while they were in their prime. She looks strong so far. Hopefully she will get the record for longevity!!

Comment by Elias — June 13, 2009 [AT] 6:00 pm

The search yesterday in Staten Island did not turn up any specimens. Saw many beautiful parks: Blue Heron Nature preserve, Clay Pits Pond Park, Wolfe’s Pond Park, and Conference House Park. Found a shell at Clay Pits Park and was told by a park ranger they came up about a week ago. No calling heard. Returned to Fanwood NJ too since I was by the Outerbridge Crossing. Saw lots of shells but they were probably left over from the previous 2 weeks. No calling and no specimens. Has anyone else seen any Magicicada? Seems like the accelerated emergence is all over.

Day 14 in the mini colony. The only one left alive from the original Fanwood Brood is the Massospora stricken cicada. Half the cicada’s body is gone yet she is still alive! This insect never ceases to amaze me!!

Comment by Elias — June 7, 2009 [AT] 6:09 am

Day 12 in the mini colony. Lost the first male yesterday. the second male appears to be tiring. did not hear him call this AM. 3 females still alive, one is the recent Staten Island specimen.

Staten Island news is picking up on the early cicadas and published an article here.http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/124411770745200.xml&coll=1
Will probably search again over the weekend.

Comment by Elias — June 5, 2009 [AT] 4:05 am

Day 9 in the captive colony. The two males are calling like crazy and the one infected with Massospora is still flicking her wings to keep them going. The female that mated last time has begun to lay eggs in the branches I have in there. I have seen all aspects of their life style. What a cool present nature gave me.
Hope some others are finding stragglers. There are a lot of people in Brood II and Brood XIV land!

Comment by Elias — June 2, 2009 [AT] 7:36 pm

Took a trip to Staten island today. Found 2 cicada burrows in Blue Heron Nature Preserve but no skins/adults. Then went to Wolfe’s Pond Park and found some cast off shells on Sycamore trees only. Then after a long day and a good stroke of luck, 1 nymph came up at 8:30PM on a sycamore tree. He is molting right now and so far the process is going well. Learned a technique from Gerry Bunker and that is to transport nymphs horizontally in a plastic container to prevent them from molting which leads to certain deformity. Day 7 for the rest of the colony. The two males are still calling and one pair mated already.

Comment by Elias — May 31, 2009 [AT] 8:55 pm

Update on my mini colony that is being kept alive in a Butterfly pavilion. One young male started to sing today. The amplitude is very low. Also a female in the cage responded with wing flick signalling. Brought home 8 from New jersey, 6 still alive. Today is Day #4. Next couple of days may need to look in Staten island or back to Fanwood. Anyone have any other reports? I know the weather is terrible. We need some sunshine!!

Comment by Elias — May 28, 2009 [AT] 8:17 pm

Thanks to Charlene’s post I went to Fanwood. found 7 tenerals and captured one nymph which will eclose here in the comfort of my home. Heard some light M. septendecim choruses. did not see any M. cassini or M. septendecula. Some trees where covered with at least 100 exuvia. Some had none. The question is have we seen the maximum yet or is it just starting? Please keep an eye out for further emergence sites here in the North East.

Comment by Elias — May 25, 2009 [AT] 1:10 pm

Can anyone tell me places where cicadas are being seen in New jersey or New York. I will travel to document this interesting accelerated emergence. Parks where they have been observed or street intersections would be of greatest value. Thank you!

Comment by Elias — May 24, 2009 [AT] 7:51 am

Charlene, yes, they’re stragglers even though there are so many. They’re stragglers by virtue of the fact that they’re arriving 4 years early.

Comment by Dan — May 22, 2009 [AT] 7:02 pm

Our NJ town (30 miles west of Manhattan) is covered in Magicicadas. Can they be straggers when the entire town is covered in them? Here are some photos I took today:

http://charlenemc.smugmug.com/gallery/8295055_PTPhV#543177018_samDe

Comment by Charlene — May 22, 2009 [AT] 6:49 pm

Saw a whole lot of cicadas around Cedar Ridge Drive, in (Spotsylvania County) Fredericksburg, VA 22407

Comment by Selena Barefoot — May 18, 2009 [AT] 5:38 pm

We had one of these at our back porch light last night in Carroll County, Virginia. I thought it was some sort of very large bee (looked to be about the size of a humming bird!) but decided to do some research today after work and there it is! I see there have been a number of other sightings in Virginia recently.

Comment by Lori — May 18, 2009 [AT] 3:09 pm

Categories
Brood II Magicicada Periodical Stragglers

Magicicada septendecim photos

On Monday (Memorial Day) I was lucky enough to find a lone Magicicada septendecim brood II straggler in Metuchen, NJ. This is a male, and he was about 1.5 inches or 3.8 centimeters long.

Molted Male Magicicada septendecim

Male Magicicada septendecim

Male Magicicada septendecim

Male Magicicada septendecim

Male Magicicada septendecim

Male Magicicada septendecim

Look for orange coloring between the wing and eye to identify Magicicada septendecim:
Magicicada septendecim

Cicadas have 3 tiny eyes called ocelli:
ocelli

Thanks to Elias for noticing the coloration behind the eye that IDs this as a decim.