2024 North American Proto-Periodical and Annual Cicadas
This project will document the location of cicada species that emerge semi-annually and annually* in North America.
2024 is a huge year for Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada Broods XIX and XIII) so it is very useful to track other types of cicadas lest they be lost in the frenzy of attention for the Periodicals.
Cicada genera of North America include: Beameria, Cacama, Cicadettana, Clidophleps, Cornuplura, Diceroprocta, Hadoa, Megatibicen, Neocicada, Neoplatypedia, Neotibicen, Okanagana, Okanagodes, Pacarina, Platypedia (Proto-Periodical), Quesada and Tibicinoides. There are over 200 species of cicada in North America that emerge annually or semi-annually.
Note: *Cicadas that emerge every 13 or 17 years are known as “Periodical cicadas” because they emerge periodically. In North America the genus that emerges periodically is Magicicada. Some species like Platypedia have a prototypical periodicity to their emergences, but it is usually due to influences like weather events or overpopulation underground rather than a predictable number of years.
There is a new cicada book emerging in August or September of 2024 called The Cicadas of North America Book by the author and illustrator Chris Alice Kratzer.
CGWiber of the Dutch John Resort of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Utah, sent us these cicada photos. CGWiber enjoys fly fishing and “matching the hatch”, which means using fly fishing lures that match the characteristics of cicadas. Cicadas are a favorite food of game fish like trout. They can have years of great abundance. You’ll find them near water because there is more vegetation near water, which is why fish get ahold of them.
Okanagana cicada. It looks like Okanagana magnifica, but I’m not sure.
Okanagana cicada. Looks like Okanagana magnifica. It is about the length of two human phalanges:
Platypedia cicada.
Platypedia cicada. See how tiny they can be? Smaller than one human phalanx.
Okanagana and Platypedia are visually similar.
With few exceptions, both cicadas are primarily black with orange or beige highlights, both can be “hairy”, and both are common west of the Mississippi.
Platypedia tend to be smaller than Okanagana, many have a line down their pronotum, and they make sound by clapping their wings against their bodies. Okanagana make sound by vibrating their tymbals.
Thanks to cicada researcher Jeff Cole, Ph.D., for this tip: “From the side with the wings folded Platypedia have the node on the forewing way out towards the apex, while Okanagana and Tibicinoides will have the node located more or less in the middle of the wing.”
Locations: 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
When: June-September. Peaks in August.
Eyes: gray / beige
Collar: olive or rusty brown
Description: The largest North American cicada. Olive green to rusty brown with black, tan, and white coloring. Heavy white pruinose. M on mesonotum is typically partially occluded by pruinose. Sings at dusk.
Description: Primarily either orange/rust or pea green, brown, or black with heavy pruninosity which forms distinct markings on the dorsal side of the body. The dorsal side has two black stripes framed by three areas of pruinosity. Sounds like N. pronotalis.
Description: Rust/orange, black & white pruinosity, which forms distinct markings, such as a line of white dots down the dorsal side of the abdomen. Sounds like N. tremulus. Has a call that sounds like a rapid series of clicks.
Locations: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, NC, ND, OH, OK, SD, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI, WY
When: July-September. Peaks in August.
Eyes: gray
Collar: green or brown
Description: Tan or pea green, brown, black, and sometimes white pruinose. Wing color matches the dominant color of the body. Typically lacks a black marking on its pronotum.
Locations: AR, CT, DC, IL, IN, IA, KS, ME, MB, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NB, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, NS, OH, ON, PA, PE, QC, RI, SC, SD, TN, VT, VA, WV, WI
When: July-September. Peaks in August.
Eyes: varies
Collar: varies
Description: Typical black, brown, beige and green Tibicen camo patterns. The primary color varies from brown to green. The collar is often a mix of green & black. Sounds like an angle grinder tool and like N. auriferus & N. davisi.
Locations: AL, DE, DC, FL, GA, LA, MD, MA, MS, NJ, NY, NC, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
When: August-December. Peaks in September.
Eyes: varies
Collar: brown or green
Description: The davisi comes in a wide variety of colors: from rusty browns to greens. A crown-like pattern on the mesonotum. Sounds like an angle grinder tool, & sounds like N. auriferus & N. canicularis.
Description: If the cicada has a white X on its back, it is a latifasciatus. Repetitive, rhythmic, call like someone repeatedly running a scissor over a grinding wheel.
Locations: AL, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IN, IL, KY, MD, MA, MS, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, WV
When: July-September. Peaks in July.
Eyes: black
Collar: black
Description: The Dark Lyric Cicadas have the darkest coloration of all the Lyric cicadas. Their mesonotum is almost entirely dark brown/black. They have a “soda-pop pull-tab” or keyhole shape on their pronotum.
Locations: AL, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MS, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, ON, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI
When: June-August. Peaks in July.
Eyes: brown
Collar: black
Description: The Lyric cicada, like most small Neotibicen, has a green, black & brown camouflage look, but the key is Lyric cicadas typically have black collars. Its sound is like an angle grinder tool steadily grinding a slightly uneven surface.
Locations: AL, AR, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, WV, WI
When: June-October. Peaks in August.
Eyes: black
Collar: green
Description: The Scissor Grinder looks a lot like Linne’s Cicada but its wing doesn’t have the bend that Linne’s Cicada has. The Scissor Grinder also seems to have more of an orange coloration to the ‘arches’ on its mesonotum.
Locations: 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, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WV, WI
When: June-September. Peaks in August.
Eyes: black or dark green
Collar: black
Description: Swamp Cicadas are known for their rounded, humped back. Their coloration varies from mostly black & some green to black, brown, and green. Their collar is usually black but can include green.
Description: Like the Scissor Grinder, the Eastern Scissor Grinder seems to have more of an orange hue to the arches on its mesonotum, perhaps even more so than the Scissor Grinder.
Quesada gigas (Olivier, 1790) Is a cicada found in the United States (Texas), Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Tobago, Trinidad, and Venezuela. It is the largest cicada in these locations.
Quesada gigas from Brazil, Photo by Leonardo Milhomem.
The image says Tympanoterpes gigas but its newest name is Quesada gigas.
Species description notes from Insect. Rhynchota.:
Stal treated this species as a synonym of T. grossa, Fabr. The type of the Fabrician species, however, is in the Banksian collection contained in the British Museum, and is very distinct, the opercula being large and rounded.
The figure given in the Encyclopedic Methodique is, like Stal’s, useless for any practical purpose. Among the habitats of this wide-ranging species is that given by Walker 2, ” West coast of America,” which, as before remarked in connexion with other species, seems clearly to refer to Central America. The forms inhabiting this region (of which a Guatemalan specimen is figured) appear to be somewhat smaller than more southern specimens, or do not exhibit the gigantic specimens which are frequently and commonly received from the southern portion of the Neotropical Region.
Mr. Gervase F. Mathew (Ent. Mo. Mag. xi. p. 175) gives some interesting details relating to this insect as observed at Tobago. As regards its powers of stridulation he writes of a ” tropical afternoon: ” — ” Suddenly, from right above, you hear one or two hoarse, monotonous cries something like the croak of a tree-frog, and, looking upwards, wonder what it can be. But wait a moment ; this is merely a signal ; for the next minute everywhere above and around you these croaks are repeated in rapid and increasing succession until they merge into a long shrill whistle almost exactly similar to the whistle of a first-rate locomotive ; this continues for nearly half a minute, and then abruptly terminates.” ” Presently similar cries will be heard in the far distance, as if in reply to those which have just died away overhead. The whistling pierces one’s ears to such a degree that its vibrations can be felt long after it has ceased.”
Mr. Mathew describes this species as frequenting trees growing in ravines where the soil is generally soft and damp, in which their larvae and pupae find no difficulty in burrowing. ” When the latter are full-grown and ready for their last transformation, they emerge from the ground and crawl about four or five feet up the trunk of a tree, when they firmly fix themselves to the bark by means of their powerfully hooked fore tibiae.” ” The flight of the mature Cicada is abrupt, rapid, and by no means graceful ; and it does not appear to have the power of controlling itself when on the wing ; for I have often seen it fly in an insane manner against the trunk of a tree, a branch, or any other object that might be in its line of flight; and when it has performed its journey without any accident, it alights abruptly and awkwardly. As a rule, however, it does not attempt to fly to any great distance at a time.”
Resources:
The Giant Cicada / Chicharra Grande page on the Texas Entomology websites is a very good resource, particularly in relation to the state of Texas.
References:
The illustration comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Neocicada australamexicana Sanborn & Sueur, 2005 is a cicada found in Mexico. There’s a very similar cicada in the United Stated called Neocicada hieroglyphica hieroglyphica (Say, 1830).
Neocicada australamexicana was formerly known as Tettigia hieroglyphica.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cicadini
SubTribe: Leptopsaltriina [slender Harp player in Greek]
Genus: Neocicada
Species: Neocicada australamexicana Sanborn & Sueur, 2005
The image says Tettigia hieroglyphica, but the newest name for this cicada is Neocicada australamexicana.
References:
The illustration comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Head above black, front with an arcuated fascia at each, side of base of face on anterior margin, an indistinct, narrow, broken, central longitudinal fascia on vertex, and a broad streak behind inner margin of eyes, luteous. Pronotum with the disk ochraceous, having a large reversed triangular spot on anterior margin, a large oblique patch on each side behind eyes, and a small central transverse line near posterior margin fuscous; anterior border narrowly, lateral and posterior borders broadly luteous. Mesonotum black, with two central pale lines commencing on anterior margin and terminating about one third the length of mesonotum; basal elevation with large horn-like and branching angles extending therefrom to about centre of disk, and frenum, luteous. Abdomen black, strongly pilose, with the posterior segmental borders narrowly ochraceous. Underside of body and legs luteous ; base and central fascia to face, inner margin of eyes, some irregular marks on sternum and near coxae, a linear streak on each side of femora, a spot on trochanters, a marginal segmental row of spots to abdomen, and a large quadrate spot on apical segment fuscous. Tegmina pale hyaline; radial and postcostal veins, and venation of apical third of tegmina fuscous; postcostal ulnar ramus and remaining venation luteous. “Wings pale hyaline; basal half of venation luteous, apical half fuscous.
The face is moderately convex and gibbous, distinctly transversely striated, with a broad central longitudinal sulcation, the edges of which are slightly raised. The rostrum in the typical specimen has the apical joint mutilated, but apparently about reaches the posterior coxa?. The anterior femora are armed with two strong spines. Body very strongly pilose.
Long. 22 millim., exp. tegm. 68 millim.
References:
The illustration comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
The image says Selymbria modesta, but the newest name of this cicada is Ollanta modesta.
Species description by W. L. Distant:
Body dull testaceous. Head with the frontal margin, area of the ocelli, and posterior margin of eyes fuscous. Pronotum with two central fuscous fasciae on anterior margin, and sometimes two smaller ones on posterior margin. Mesonotum with two large obconical central spots on anterior margin; on each side of these a longer and more obscure obconical fascia, and a transverse fascia on disk, preceded by two small spots, fuscous. Basal margins of scutellum and abdominal segments fuscous. Body beneath paler; anterior margin of head and inner margin of eyes black. Tegmina pale hyaline; neuration ochraceous or dull testaceous (sometimes with the basal half much paler); transverse veins at the base of second and third apical areas, and a submarginal row of spots on longitudinal veins of first, second, and third apical areas fuscous. Wings pale hyaline, with the nervures ochraceous or testaceous.
Head, including eyes, equal in breadth to base of pronotum; face with a very deep central longitudinal sulcation, and strongly and transversely striate. Opercula pale, broad, not passing base of first abdominal segment, and narrowed but not meeting interiorly.
Long. 16 millim., exp. tegm. 57 millim.
This is the only Central- American species of the genus with which I am acquainted. It varies somewhat in the markings of the pronotum and mesonotum.
References:
The illustration comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
The illustration comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Cacama maura (Distant, 1881) is a cicada found in Mexico.
Cacama maura was formerly known as Proarna maura, but its name changed when it moved from the genus Cacama Distant, 1904 to the genus Proarna Stål, 1864.
The image says Proarna maura, but the newest name of this cicada is Cacama maura.
Species description by W. L. Distant:
Body and legs black; frontal margin of head, posterior margin of pronotum, lateral margins of face, apices of femora, and bases of tibiae dull obscure ochraceous; eyes luteous; lateral margins of sternum broadly margined with white pile. Tegmina pale hyaline, veins fuscous; basal area, costal membrane, and transverse veins at bases of second and third apical areas black. “Wings hyaline, veins fuscous, basal area black.
Body very broad and robust, with the segmental apices acute; head, including eyes, much narrower than base of pronotum. Face with the sides strongly striated, centre not sulcated, its width equal to its distance from outer margin of eyes. Rostrum reaching posterior coxae. Opercula large, oblong, black, straight outwardly, rounded posteriorly, slightly overlapping at inner margins near base.
Long. 25 millim., exp. tegm. 70 millim.
This species represents a distinct section of the genus, having the apices of the segments acute and the body very broad. This division, in every respect, including the black colour, exactly corresponds with a like divergence in the genus Cicada, as represented by C. robusta, Dist.
References:
The illustration, location info and descriptions comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.