Category: Periodical Stragglers

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Brood V Brood VIII Magicicada Matt Berger Periodical Periodical Stragglers

Look and listen for Magicicada stragglers in 2015

Another straggler sighting, this time in Cleveland which should make it a Brood V one year straggler:

Matt Berger Brood V Stragger 2
A Brood V straggler found by Matt Berger in West Virginia. See more photos of this cicada.

The emergence of Brood XXIII is well underway in the states along the Mississippi, and Brood IV should kick off in the west as soon as it stops raining every day. These aren’t the only Magicicada periodical cicadas emerging in the U.S. this year — some stragglers will emerge as well.

A straggler is a periodical cicada that emerges before or after the rest of its brood. Typically a straggler belonging to a 17 year brood will emerge 4 years early, but they might also emerge a year early, or a year late, or even 4 years late. This probability chart, details the probability of a straggler emergence.

In 2015 you might find the following stragglers:

Tyla MacAllister found a Brood XIX Magicicada straggler (emerged 4 years late) in Alabama!

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Brood IV Brood XXIII Magicicada Periodical Stragglers

2015 Periodical Cicada Emergences

There will be two major periodical cicada emergences in 2015. We’re less that 2 months away!

2015 BROOD IV AND XXIII

Brood XXIII, the Lower Mississippi Valley brood:

This brood of 13 year Magicicada will emerge in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana. Brood XXIII features all four 13 year Magicicada species M. tredecim, M. neotredecim, M. tredecassini and M. tredecula.

When they’ll emerge depends on the weather. A cool spring will mean the emergences will start later in the spring. Regardless of the weather, the emergences will begin in the Southern-most states, sometime in late April or early to mid May.

Brood XXIII should, depending on the weather, start emerging in less than two months; some time in late April in Louisiana.

Brood IV, the Kansan Brood:

This brood of 17 year Magicicada will emerge in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. Brood VI features all three 17 year Magicicada species M. septendecim, M. cassini, and M. septendecula.

Brood IV should start emerging in early May.

Brood IV and XXIII won’t emerge in the same year again until the year 2236. The only state that features both Brood XXIII & IV is Missouri, but the areas where they emerge do not overlap.

Stragglers:

The best bet for Stragglers will be Brood VIII (17 year cicadas emerging 4 years early) & XIX (13 year cicadas emerging 4 years late). There is also a chance for III (17yr/1 year late), V (17yr/1 year early), and XXII (13yr/1 year late). Visit our brood page, to see the states where these stragglers might emerge.


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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.