Cicada Mania

Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.

February 1, 2024

New Brood XIX and XIII Cicada Book by Dr. Gene Kritsky

Filed under: Books | Brood XIII | Brood XIX | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 8:14 am

Cicada researcher and communicator Dr. Gene Kritsky has a new book about Brood XIX and XIII which are both emerging in spring of 2024: A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX. It is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX

Other posts about Dr. Gene Kritsky on this site:

  1. An Interview with Gene Kritsky
  2. Gene Kritsky’s new cicada site and Brood XIV news
  3. Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition by Gene Kritsky
  4. Gene’s App: Cicada Safari app for tracking Magicicada periodical cicadas

November 8, 2023

Cicadapocalypse a graphic novel about periodical cicadas by Roger McMullan

Filed under: Books | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 11:32 pm

Roger McMullan has a new graphic novel about periodical cicadas called Cicadapocalypse. You can obtain a copy from Roger’s online store.

As I understand it, “the book is intended as an introduction to periodical cicadas for curious kids during a cicada emergence by creating a fictional narrative around the cicadas rather than hitting them over the head with facts”. A cicada emergence through the eyes of some shocked and surprised cartoon squirrels.

It looks fun to me.

cicadapocalypse

October 18, 2023

Cicadas on leaves & trees – Brood V Magicicada from Morgantown, WV (2016), gallery #2

Filed under: Brood V | Magicicada | Photos & Illustrations — Dan @ 8:39 pm

This is a gallery of Magicicadas on leaves & trees from West Virginia University’s Core Arboretum from the 2013 Brood V emergence.

Visit Gallery #1 for more photos from Brood V.

Click/tap the image for a larger version:

Magicicada septedecula hiding
 Magicicada septedecula hiding

Magicicada septendecim on a leaf
Magicicada septendecim on a leaf

Magicicada with mustard eyes
Magicicada with mustard eyes

Magicicada with pale eyes
Magicicada with pale eyes

Many Exuvia on Oak Leaves
Many Exuvia on Oak Leaves

Red and Orange eyes
Red and Orange eyes

Teneral Magicicada on leaf
Teneral Magicicada on leaf

Three Magicicada
Three Magicicada

Three Magicicada
Three Magicicada

Three Magicicada
Three Magicicada

Under A Leaf
 Under A Leaf

Magicicada on leaves
Magicicada on leaves

Visit Gallery #1 for more photos from Brood V.

Core Arboretum – Brood V Magicicada from Morgantown, WV (2016), gallery #2

Filed under: Brood V | Magicicada | Photos & Illustrations — Dan @ 7:59 pm

This is a gallery of Magicicadas taken at West Virginia University’s Core Arboretum from the 2013 Brood V emergence.

Click/tap the images for larger versions.

Visit Gallery #1 from more photos From the Core Arboretum, Morgantown, and Brood V.

Magicicada cassini on tree plague:
Magicicada cassini on tree plague

Magicicada exit chimney:
Magicicada exit chimney

Magicicada septendecim abdomen:
Magicicada septendecim abdomen

Magicicada septendecim:
Magicicada septendecim

Magicicada with beige eyes:
Magicicada with beige eyes

Magicicada with damaged wings and beige eyes:
Magicicada with damaged wings and beige eyes

Magicicada with slightly orange markings on abdomen could be ‘decula or cassini:
Magicicada with slightly orange markings on abdomen could be decula or cassini

Magicicada with white eyes:
Magicicada with white eyes

Magicicada with white eyes:
Magicicada with white eyes

Male Magicicada septendecim abdomen:
Male Magicicada septendecim abdomen

Many Magicicada exuvia and corpses:
Many Magicicada exuvia and corpses

Visit Gallery #1 from more photos From the Core Arboretum, Morgantown, and Brood V.

Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania Magicicada Emergence Gallery #2

Filed under: Brood V | Magicicada | Photos & Illustrations — Tags: — Dan @ 5:35 pm

Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania Magicicada Emergence Gallery #2.
These images are from 2016, Brood V.
Click/tap the image for a larger version.
Visit Gallery #1 as well.

Many Magicicada on a tree in the shade:
Many Magicicada

Many Magicicada

Many Magicicada

Many Magicicada

Many Magicicada

Ovipositing Magicicada septendecim:
Ovipositing septendecim

Ovipositing septendecim

Two Magicicada septendecim:
Two septendecim

Zombie Cicada. Not Really, just dead:
Zombie Cicada – Not Really just dead

Visit Gallery #1 as well.

October 17, 2023

Roy Troutman’s 2013 Brood II cicada photos, gallery 3

When Roy Troutman visited New Jersey and New York in 2013 for Brood II he took a lot of great cicada photos.

Here is a sample of the best.
Click the images for a larger version.
Also visit Gallery #1 and Gallery #2.

Magicicada molting by Roy Troutman
Magicicada molting by Roy Troutman

Magicicada with exuvia by Roy Troutman
Magicicada with exuvia by Roy Troutman

Mustard eyed Magicicada septendecim by Roy Troutman
Mustard eyed Magicicada septendecim by Roy Troutman

Roy Troutman and Elias Bonaros at the Periodical Cicada display at the American Museum of Natural History, photo by Michelle Troutman
Roy Troutman, John Cooley, Ed Johnson and Dan Mozgai

Roy Troutman, John Cooley, Ed Johnson and Dan Mozgai
Roy Troutman and Elias Bonaros at the Periodical Cicada display at the American Museum of Natural History by Michelle Troutman

Teneral Magicada by Roy Troutman
Teneral Magicada by Roy Troutman

Roy Troutman’s 2013 Brood II cicada photos, gallery 2

When Roy Troutman visited New Jersey and New York in 2013 for Brood II he took a lot of great cicada photos.
Here is a sample of the best.
Click the images for a larger version.
Visit Gallery #1 and Gallery #3 as well.

John Cooley and Ed Johnson speaking at the Staten Island Museum Six Legged Sex event by Roy Troutman
John Cooley and Ed Johnson speaking at the Staten Island Museum Six Legged Sex event by Roy Troutman

Light Up Cicada Sculpture at the Staten Island Museum by Roy Troutman
Light Up Cicada Sculpture at the Staten Island Museum by Roy Troutman

Magicicada septendecim by Roy Troutman
M. septendecim by Roy Troutman

Magicicada cassini flying inbetween calling in Colonia NJ by Roy Troutman
Magicicada cassini flying inbetween calling in Colonia NJ by Roy Troutman

Magicicada cassini in flight in Colonia NJ by Roy Troutman
Magicicada cassini in flight in Colonia NJ by Roy Troutman

Magicicada corpses and exuvia by Roy Troutman
Magicicada corpses and exuvia by Roy Troutman

Magicicada mating by Roy Troutman
Magicicada mating by Roy Troutman

Magicicada exuvia by Roy Troutman
Magicicada exuvia by Roy Troutman

Magicicada septendecim mating by Roy Troutman
Magicicada septendecim mating by Roy Troutman

Magicicada staring at you by Roy Troutman
Magicicada staring at you by Roy Troutman

October 3, 2023

Fall Magicicada cassini straggler found in Park Ridge, IL

Filed under: Brood XIII | Magicicada | Periodical Stragglers — Tags: — Dan @ 10:22 am

Mary Rotter Fullerton found, or rather heard and recorded, a Brood XIII Magicicada cassini straggler on October 2nd, 2023, in Park Ridge, Illinois! This cicada emerged 7 months early!

Listen to the edited file (volume increased, background noise removed):

There are squirrel sounds in the mix as well.

Mary says:

Very cool, I have never heard one in fall. It was in a 50-year old maple tree that hosted many stragglers (early Brood XIII?) this past spring of 2023. Park Ridge, IL.

Spectrogram:
Mary Rotter Fullerton

David Marshall of InsectSingers.com confirmed that this is indeed a Magicicada cassini.

David says:

Yes to me that’s unquestionably a set of cassini calls. There are some literature records of autumn Magicicada, sometimes with speculation that it’s related to sudden late-season warmups.

It looks like there’s been quite a few fall stragglers, according to the Magicicada Straggler project on iNaturalist.

May 27, 2023

2023 Magicicada straggler update

Filed under: Brood X | Brood XIII | Brood XIV | Brood XIX | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 6:49 am

Updated for June 7th!

Here’s a map of 2023 Magicicada straggler sightings from 2023 Magicicada stragglers iNaturalist project and the Cicada Safari app. Dr. Gene Kritsky compiled the map.

Kritsky map June 7

It looks like there are plenty of stragglers from these broods:

Learn about Magicicada stragglers.

May 8, 2022

Magicicada stragglers found in 2022

Filed under: Magicicada | Periodical Stragglers — Dan @ 7:26 am

Here’s the latest map of stragglers from Gene for June 1st:

June 1 map

Gene Kristsky let us know that people are finding Magicada stragglers and reporting them on iNaturalist. It looks like most of the stragglers are in the Brood XIX area currently, but as temperatures warm, we might see others from other Broods.

Be on the lookout in 2022 (or any year)! Any place you see a red dot is a possibility. Even central Massachusettes (former home of Brood XI) and Ontario — maybe so.

Possbile Straggler Locations

Straggler-related facts:

What is a Magicicada:
A Magicicada is a genus of cicada that lives in the United States that typically emerges in 17 or 13-year cycles depending on the species.

They look like this:
Brood X header

What is a Brood:
A Brood is a numbered group of Magicicada cicadas that emerge in a specific series of years.
Example: Brood X (X is the Roman numeral for 10) emerges every 17 years, i.e. 2021, 2038, 2055, etc.

What is a Straggler:
A Straggler is a Magicicada that emerges earlier or later than anticipated.
Example: If a Brood XIX (13-year, next due in 2024) cicada emerges in 2022, we can say it is a straggler that emerged 2 years early.
Stragglers that emerge earlier than expected have also been called “precursors” (Marlatt 1898). I also call them “pioneers”.

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