From Roy Troutman: “I shot a video back in 1991 of a 17 year Magicicada cassini singing right on my hand.”
Cicadas spend most of their lives, as nymphs, underground. The large forelegs of cicada nymphs are adapted to digging through soil.
Image from The Periodical Cicada: An Account of Cicada Septendecim, Its Natural Enemies and the Means of Preventing Its Injury by C.L. Marlatt. 1898.
These videos demonstrate Magicicada nymphs digging through soil.
Magicicada nymph excavating tunnel by Roy
This magicicada nymph is excavating a make shift tunnel sandwiched between two pieces of plexiglass.:
Magicicada nymph emerging from burrow by Roy
Magicicada nymph emerging from burrow from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
Here is a video of a rare white eyed magicicada. This is from a gene mutation that strepps the color from the cicadas eyes & also wings to some extent.
White eyed magicicada from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
This video by Roy Troutman shows a Tibicen cicada nymph emerge from the ground.
Annual cicada nymph emerging from burrow. from Roy Troutman.
Categories
A Tibicen cicada breathing
Cicadas breathe through apertures along the side of their body called spiracles. This video of a Tibicen by Roy Troutman shows the opening and closing of a spiracle.
Adult Cicada breathing from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
The fungus Massospora cicadina preys on Magicicadas cicadas. This is particularly interesting because the fungus is able to prey upon them in spite of their long 17 year life cycle (apparently fungi are not phased by prime numbers).
When the fungus destroys the abdomen of male cicadas, they will behave like female cicadas and flick their wings in response to the songs of male cicadas, and attempt to mate with other males.
A photo by Roy Troutman from Brood XIV (2008):
Two photos by Dan Mozgai from Brood II (2013):
Magicicada fungus (massospora cicadina)
magicicada fungus (massospora cicadina) from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
New from 2017: the Massospora cicadina viewed under a microscope.
Examining & measuring #Massospora spores for #MSA2017 in GA. Here's M. cicadina resting spores (#BroodVI, 2017). #fungi @MSAFungi @zygolife pic.twitter.com/b78R9VwDgP
— Matt Kasson (@kasson_wvu) July 12, 2017
During the Brood II emergence in 2013, Elias Bonaros, Roy Troutman and I spent some time experimenting with coercing male Magicicada to call in response to finger snaps, which mimic the snap of a female cicada’s wings. This trick works fairly well with Magicicada, and can quickly be mastered once you work out the timing. Fingers, wall switches, and the zoom button on my Sony video camera do a good job at mimicking the snap of a females wings.
Magicicada cassini responding to fingersnaps
Magicicada cassini responding to fingersnaps from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
I also recorded their calls in terms of decibels to see just how loud they could get. They can get very loud, but not as loud as a rock concert (see this db chart).
Magicicada cassini calling at 109db in Colonia NJ
Magicicada cassini calling at 109db in Colonia NJ from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
Magicicada cassini chorusing center peaking at 85db
Magicicada cassini chorusing center peaking at 85db from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
Here are two videos of Magicicada septendecula from Brood II.
Female Magicicada septendecula
Magicicada septendecula from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
A female Magicicada septendecula ovipositing
A female Magicicada septendecula ovipositing from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
Categories
Where can I buy cicadas online?
People ask, where can I buy cicadas online?
There are a lot of places, but here are my favorites:
- BicBugs has a wide variety of cicadas.
- BioQuipBugs. BioQuipBugs has a wide variety of species from Africa, Asia, North and South America. The specimens are also unmounted, but you can pay extra to have them mounted.
- Ebay.com. eBay is a good place to find cicada specimens, particularly if you are just starting your collection. Colorful Asian species dominate the species for sale, but you will usually find American species during or after a periodical cicada emergence (when those are plentiful). Most specimens you’ll find on eBay are mounted, but you can find unmounted specimens as well.
- God of Insects. The God of Insects site has been around for a long time. You’ll find mostly Asian species, which are the most collectible because of their beauty.
Search around the web. You might find other shops and different varieties of cicadas not found on the sites mentioned above.
Keep in mind that some species might be over-collected to the point where it could endanger a species. I recommend, for that reason, that people limit their collections and not become too obsessed, as one might who collects toys or comic books.
Categories
New Zealand cicada season
Cicada season in New Zealand begins in November and lasts throughout their Summer months.
Here is a list of the best New Zealand cicada links:
- New Zealand Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae): A virtual identification guide (landcareresearch.co.nz) A wonderful web site. Includes a visual identification guide, checklist, and image gallery. Photos of dozens of species. (updated 8/18/2024)
- Introducing cicadas (teara.govt.nz) Photos, sounds and 4 paragraphs of information.
- New Zealand cicadas (troutbum.co.nz)
Large photos of Kikihia and Amphipsalta. - Here is a nice article about the cicada Sounds of a Kiwi summer.
- A Flickr gallery of New Zealand Cicadas