Category: Researchers

Cicada researchers associated with academic institutions.

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Allen F. Sanborn Chalumalna Lamotialnini

Lesser Antilles Cicada aka Chalumalna martinesis gets a new Tribe.

The Lesser Antilles Cicada aka Chalumalna martinesis is a cicada found in the Lesser Antilles islands, for certain in Saint Martin (see sightings on iNaturalist).

Cicada researcher Allen Sanborn has a new paper titled Redescription, illustration and higher taxonomy of the Lesser Antilles cicada Chalumalna martinesis Boulard, 2001 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettinae).

This paper is of particular interest as it places Chalumalna martinesis this cicada in the Trible Lamotialnini, which is the same Trible as Magicicada periodical cicadas found un the U.S.

From the Abstract:

The genus Chalumalna is reassigned to Lamotialnini Boulard, 1976 based on the presence of conjunctival claws on the aedeagus and the lack of a developed uncus. Brevialavenosa Sanborn, 2021 and Chrysolasia Moulds, 2003 are shown to be members of Lamotialnini as well, expanding the tribal distribution to include the Caribbean, South and Central America.

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Allen F. Sanborn Megatibicen U.S.A.

Megatibicen pronotalis hesperiu

Looks like there is a new sub-species of Megatibicen pronotalis, to go with Megatibicen pronotalis pronotalis (Davis, 1938) and Megatibicen pronotalis walkeri (Metcalf, 1955) called Megatibicen pronotalis hesperiu. I am going to guess that ‘hesperiu’ refers to the Greek word for evening or western. If it’s western, maybe the hesperiu is an offshoot of M. pronotalis pronotalis.

As on 3/27 I have not read the paper. You can access it here https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5609.4.2.

See also the The Cicadas of North America Book which inspired the description of this new cicada species.

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Books Brood XIV Gene Kritsky

A new Gene Kritsky book: The Pilgrims’ Promise: The 2025 Emergence of the Periodical Cicada Brood XIV

Looks like Doctor Gene Kritsky has a new periodical cicada book: The Pilgrims’ Promise: The 2025 Emergence of the Periodical Cicada Brood XIV.

Get it on Amazon, or your favorite book dealer.

Like clockwork, Gene is back with another book about one of the major periodical cicada broods found in the U.S.A. This time it is for Brood XIV (14). Gene’s books are the “only game in town” so to speak, when it comes to periodical cicadas. They detail the facts about the insects, tell you where you can find them, and include folklore and legends about the insects.

The Pilgrims’ Promise: The 2025 Emergence of the Periodical Cicada Brood XIV

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Samuel Orr

Samuel Orr has a new Instagram account

Many of you will remember Samuel Orr from his film Return of the Cicadas.

He has a new Instagram account and website.

Sam is well known for his cicada photography and videography.

Return of the Cicadas from motionkicker on Vimeo.

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Brood XXIII Chris Simon Magicicada Periodical Stragglers

Brood XXIII Cicada Stragglers are emerging!

BROODXXIII

One phenomenal behavior of Magicicada periodical cicadas is they “straggle”, meaning they emerge earlier or later than the year they are expected. Typically they emerge 1 or 4 years before they’re supposed to emerge.

Brood XXIII is expected to emerge in four years in 2028, but enough are emerging in 2024 for cicada researchers like Chris Simon to take notice! She let us know about the stragglers on May 8th.

Brood XXIII is found in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. This is not a perfect map (it overlaps with Brood XIX), but XXIII cicadas will show up in that area.

Arkansas: Bayou Deview Wildlife Management Area, Poinsett County, Devalls Bluff, Harrisburg, Holland Bottoms, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Knox Co., Lake Hogue, Lake Poinsett State Park, Little Rock, and Wynne.

Illinois: Anna, Carbondale, Carterville, Chester, Clinton Lake, Marissa and Robinson.

Indiana: Harmonie State Park, Hymera, Leanne, Richland, Sullivan And Posey Counties.

Kentucky: Benton, Calvert City, Gilbertsville, Henry County, Murray, and Paducah.

Louisiana: Bastrop, Choudrant, Grayson and West Monroe.

Mississippi: Alva, Arlington, Booneville, Brandon, Clinton, Corinth, Desoto County, Florence, French Camp, Hernando, Holcomb, Houlka, Jackson, New Albany, Oxford, Potts Camp, Silver Creek, Tishomingo, and Water Valley.

Tennessee: Atoka, Benton, Cordova, Henry County, Huntingdon, Jackson, Lavinia, Leach, Lexington, McNeary County, Memphis, Paris, Savannah, and Speedwell.

Here’s a blue overlay of there Brood XXIII emerges from the UCONN map on the iNaturalist data (as of May 5th):

Brood XXIII overlay

Surrounding the blue area on the west and east is Brood XIX and north will be Brood XIII.

More info:

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Books C.L. Marlatt Citizen Science

Cicada Coloring Book using Vintage Cicada Illustrations

Charles Lester Marlatt is the most well-known Magicicada researcher of all time. He spent the late 19th and early 20th-century researching periodical cicadas and establishing the location of their broods. Marlatt is responsible for the concept of broods and the name Magicicada (he thought the cicadas were Magical).

The illustrations contained in his publications make excellent decorations that you can color and make crafts with.

Download a free PDF of Magicicada illustrations that you can print out and color and festoon around your house or classroom.

Cicada Coloring Book

Sources:

More cicada activities:

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Citizen Science Massospora Matt Kasson

Share your fungus infected cicadas with Matt Kasson, PhD, please

Massospora cicadina is a fungus that infects Magicicada cicadas. They contract it when they are still in the soil, and then spread it during sex as adults. It contains amphetamine and it sends the cicadas into a mating frenzy. It makes males behave like female cicadas. It replaces their butt-ends with a white chalky fungal substance.

Massospora bae

Matt Kasson, PhD, of West Virginia University wants you to share the fungus-infected cicadas with him.
If you post a photo of a Massospora-infected cicada on iNaturalist, tag him @mperfectfunguy.
If you post a photo of the same thing on Twitter, tag him @ImperfectFunGuy.
Got a sack of fungus-infected cicadas? He might want them.

Here’s the text from his post on Twitter/X:

‼️ ATTENTION ‼️ It’s #EarthDay2024 and we need your help finding / collecting Massospora-infected zombie cicadas for research so please share and RT! Illustration????by Molly Sherlock.

If you somehow missed it, trillions of cicadas are beginning their emergence across the Midwest and Southern U.S. This is a rare double emergence of both 13-year and 17-year cicadas, both of which are known hosts of the zombie cicada fungus, Massospora cicadina!

We are hoping to collect many infected cicadas as possible, especially infected 13-year cicadas as we only have three total specimens in our collection and none from Brood XIX.

The best way to help is to upload your observations in either
@inaturalist
or
@CicadaSafari
. You can also tag me in Massospoara cicadina iNat posts (
@imperfectfunguy
). DMs are also open here for inquiries about next steps.

Receiving a heads up is as important as receiving actual specimens so no observation is insignificant.

Look for a chalky white fungal plug of M. cicadina emerging from the back of the abdomen on infected adults. Unlike many insect pathogens, Massospora does not kill its host so you will observe infected cicadas among a larger population of healthy cicadas.

He’s worth following on Twitter/X because it posts a lot of wild photos and illustrations like this.

More about Massospora:

Massospora papers:

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Citizen Science

2024 North American Proto-Periodical & Annual Cicada Location Project

I created a 2024 North American Proto-Periodical & Annual Cicada Location Project on iNaturalist.

Why?
1) Because the periodical cicadas get all the spotlight… that said do sign up for the 2024 Magicicada: Broods XIII and XIX iNaturalist project.
2) Because the 2023 project was a success.

2024 Banner

What is it about?

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.

24 Logo

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Becquartina India Vivek Sarkar

New species Becquartina bicolor and the genus Becquartina was discovered for the first time in India

News from Vivek Sarkar! A new cicada species, Becquartina bicolor, has been discovered in India.
This also marks the first time a cicada of the genus Becquartina was discovered in India.

Photos courtesy and copyright of Vivek Sarkar. Note the variation in colors.
Balpakram_2017-05-17_VivekSarkar_edited 1

Balpakram_2017-05-17_VivekSarkar_edited 5

From Vivek:

I am thrilled to share with you the latest development in our research endeavors here in India. We have recently uncovered an astonishing new cicada species from the genus, marking its inaugural appearance in India. This significant discovery was made independently within the mysterious forests of Garo Hills and Ri Bhoi district, igniting a sense of wonder in the realm of biodiversity exploration and shedding light on the untapped potential of Meghalaya’s diverse ecosystems.

As you are aware, cicadas in India have been a long-standing subject of neglect, with studies stagnating since the early 20th century. Despite boasting the world’s highest generic diversity of cicadas, their biology remains largely unexplored within India. With the unveiling of four new species in Meghalaya (including this one), alongside four additional additions to India’s cicada diversity since 2020, these forests continue to unveil new marvels.

Here is a link to the paper by Vivek Sarkar, Rodeson Thangkhiew, Cuckoo Mahapatra, Pratyush P. Mohapatra, Manoj V. Nair, and Sudhanya R. Hajong: Discovery of the cicada genus Becquartina Kato, 1940 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae) in India with the description of a new species from Meghalaya.

Photos courtesy and copyright of Vivek Sarkar.
Balpakram_2017-05-17_VivekSarkar_edited 2

Balpakram_2017-05-17_VivekSarkar_edited 6

Balpakram_2017-05-17_VivekSarkar_edited 8

Categories
Allen F. Sanborn Cacama Maxine E. Heath U.S.A.

Cacama collinaplaga Sanborn and Heath in Sanborn, Heath, Phillips and Heath, 2011 aka Cactus Dodger

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Cacama
Species: Cacama collinaplaga Sanborn and Heath in Sanborn, Heath, Phillips and Heath, 2011

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.