Cicada ManiaThis is Part 3 of my 2025 Morning Cicada (Swamp Cicada, Neotibicen tibicen tibicen) review.
These photos are of cicadas that have recently molted from their nymphal skins and are expanding and hardening their wings.
This is part 2 of 2025 Morning Cicada (Swamp Cicada, Neotibicen tibicen tibicen) photos.
Now check out Part 1: the Nymphs or Part 3: teneral cicadas hardening wings.
2025 was a good year for Morning (aka Swamp aka Neotibicen tibicen tibicen) cicadas in New Jersey. The nymph season lasted from the second week of July to the third week of August.
Each year I post the images and videos of Morning Cicadas that I take.
Here’s the first post in the 2025 series: nymphs!
Go to Part 2: Molting.
Thank you, Coleman Cobbs, for these photos of a Neotibicen similaris cicada. The cicada was found in from Rapides Parish, Louisiana. This cicada looks “similar” to many other species of Neotibicen cicadas aka “Dog Day”.
Most of my cicada experience happens in the state of New Jersey, particularly central New Jersey (which does exist: it is comprised of Middlesex, Sommerset, Hunterdon and Mercer counties). Typically, in central and northern New Jersey, the summer cicada season will kick off in late June with the emergence of Neotibicen lyricen and end with the grinding calls of Neotibicen canicularis in the middle of September. Central New Jersey has these annual cicada species: Neotibicen lyricen (both sub-species), Neotibicen linnei, Neotibicen tibicen, Neotibicen winnemanna, Neotibicen canicularis, and possibly Megatibicen grossus in the south, and Okanagana rimosa in the north-west. Periodical cicadas are also found in the area, but not in the summer, and not in 2024.
Neotibicen tibicen aka Morning Cicadas (most call them Swamp Cicadas — I do not because it is not a helpful description) are abundant in my location and do well with both Spruce and Maple trees.
The summer of 2024 was a strange one:
Neotibicen cicadas are around every where, but there are good years and great years. 2024 was not great. I don’t know if the extra HOT and dry weather had an impact, but it may have. Lots of “maybes”.
Here’s some photos of molting Neotibicen tibicen for you to enjoy:
Neotibicen cicadas come in a variety of pastel colors when they are in their teneral (soft) phase, when they inflate their wings and harden their bodies after molting their nymphal skins. Teneral Neotibicen can feature the colors pink, yellow and blue, in addition to pastel versions of the oranges, browns and greens we commonly see on their fully-hardened adult bodies.
Here’s an example of a male Neotibicen lyricen that was pink when it was teneral:
Here’s photos of the same cicada as a nymph and a hardened adult. See that its mesonotum are black and brown, not green and brown. It’s closer to a Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti than the Neotibicen lyricen lyricen, which has green on its mesonotum (the cicada’s shield-like back).
Hardened adult:
Photos of a Neotibicen tibicen tibicen aka Morning or Swamp cicada from August 28th, 2016. The cicada was found in Monmouth county, NJ.
Click/tab the thumbnail images for big versions:
Visit Gallery #1 for the start of the transformation.
This cicada is a female:
Visit Gallery #1 for the start of the transformation.
This is a series of Neotibicen canicularis Northern Dog-Day cicada photos from Lakewood, NJ taken by Elias Bonaros.
Click the photos for larger versions:
A recently molted male Neotibicen canicularis cicada:
A recently molted male Neotibicen canicularis cicada:
A molting Neotibicen canicularis cicada:
This is a photo of a teneral (soft) Neotibicen lyricen cicada by Elias Bonaros.
Click the photo for a larger version:
This is a photo by Elias Bonaros of a teneral (soft) Neotibicen linnei cicada and its exuvia (molted skin). It was taken in 2009, and knowing Elias, probably in New York or New Jersey.
Click the photo from a larger version:
Neotibicen linnei teneral and its exuvia:
