Thanks to Roy Troutman for these cicada-themed items: clothespins, a ring and a tin clicker toy.
February 26, 2012
December 26, 2011
Brood I cicadas will emerge in Virginia and West Virginia in 2012
The Magicicada periodical cicadas belonging to Brood I (one) will emerge in western Virginia and eastern West Virginia in the spring of 2012. Brood I cicadas have a 17-year life cycle. Three species of periodical cicada will emerge: Magicicada cassini, Magicicada septendecim, and Magicicada septendecula.
Brood I is also called the Blue Ridge brood because the emergence occurs in the Blue Ridge Highlands area. Brood I has historically emerged along RT 81 in Virginia, parts of George Washington National Forest, Jefferson National Forest, and around the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area in West Virginia. Visit the Brood I page on Magiciada.org for more information and maps.
Get ready…
November 17, 2011
How to say cicada around the world
Ever wonder how people say “cicada” around the world. According to Google Translate, here’s how to say “cicada” in 44 different languages.
This page is a little messed up at the moment. Check back later.
Afrikaans: sonbesie
Albanian: gjinkallë
Armenian: ts’ikada (ÖÕ«Õ¯Õ¡Õ¤Õ¡)
Belarusian: cykady (цыкады)
Bengali: Ucciṇṛē (উচà§à¦šà¦¿à¦‚ড়ে)
Bulgarian: tsikada (цикада)
Catalan: cigala
Chinese: Chán (蟬)
Croatian: cvrÄak
Czech: cikáda
Dutch: cicade
Estonian: tsikaad
Filipino: kuliglig
Finnish: laulukaskas
French: cigale
Galician: cigarra
German: Zikade
Greek: tzitzÃki (τζιτζίκι)
Gujarati: TÄ«á¸a (તીડ)
Haitian Creole: sigal
Hindi: SikÄá¸Ä (सिकाडा)
Hungarian: kabóca
Indonesian: tonggeret
Italian: cicala
Japanese: Semi (セミ)
Kannada: Rekkeya (ರೆಕà³à²•à³†à²¯)
Korean: maemi (매미)
Latvian: cikÄde
Macedonian: cikada (цикада)
Malay: Cengkerik
Polish: cykada
Portuguese: cigarra
Romanian: greier
Russian: tsikada (цикада)
Serbian: cikada (цикада)
Slovak: Cikada
Slovenian: CvrÄak
Spanish: cigarra, chicharra
Swedish: cikada
Tamil: Cil vaṇá¹u (சில௠வணà¯à®Ÿà¯)
Thai: Cạkcạ̀n (จัà¸à¸ˆà¸±à¹ˆà¸™)
Turkish: ağustosböceği
Ukrainian: tsykada (цикада)
Vietnamese: con ve sầu
Last edited 3/29/2021.
November 7, 2011
Another Brazilian Cicada ID challenge
Jairo from Cigarras do Brasil — Brazilian Cicadas website returns with more cicadas from Brazil for you to identify.
Cicada One
Cicada Two
Cicada Three
October 26, 2011
A new cicada video: Cicada Toys, Art, Action Figures, Lures, Keyrings, Soda and other Objects
I had some free time today so a made a video of the cicada-related objects I’ve collected over the past 15 or so years. The video includes cicada noise makers, whistles, action figures, a music comp, a kite, cicada soda, rubber toys, fishing lures and other fun stuff.
Cicada Toys, Art, Action Figures, Lures, Keyrings, Soda and other Objects from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
Cicadas serenaded the dinosaurs
Apparently cicadas serenaded the dinosaurs! Entomologist and Mount St. Joseph professor Gene Kritsky shared the news today that cicadas lived as long as 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.
A quote from a press release:
New research has documented that cicadas, those noisy insects that sing during the dog days of summer, have been screaming since the time of the dinosaurs.
A fossil of the oldest definitive cicada to be discovered was described by George Poinar, Jr., Ph.D., professor of zoology at Oregon State University and Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., professor of biology, at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. The cicada, measuring 1.26 mm in length, was named Burmacicada protera.
Read the full Press Release on the MSJ website.
Here is a photo of the ancient Burmacicada protera cicada nymph trapped in amber. Photo credit: George Poinar, Jr., Ph.D.
It looks a lot like a modern-day first-instar cicada nymph:
Photo by Roy Troutman.
Update: Here’s a video news story about Gene’s fossil find.
I need a step-up my fossil collecting hobby. It looks like there’s some places in New Jersey to find fossils. Maybe I’ll find a cicada.
October 22, 2011
What’s next for Cicada Mania?
Autumn (in North America) is usually a slow time for cicadas and this Cicada Mania website, so I have time to clean stuff up and decide what to do next to the site.
Now I turn to you, cicada fans, enthusiasts, and researchers: what would you like to see more of (or less of) on CicadaMania.com ? Please share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
Looking forward, there’s the Brood I emergence next year in Virginia and West Virginia which should generate some buzz, and then Brood II in 2013 in the east which should be a big event.
September 11, 2011
Fukushima radiation possibly impacting cicadas in Japan
Update: @Zi_kade on twitter (he’s a cicada expert in Japan) said that these deformities were caused by wind. Good news.
Radiation from the Fukushima reactor is possibly impacting cicadas in Japan. I say possibly, because I don’t know for sure, but the following articles infer that radiation is playing a part in cicada deformities and complications during eclosing (when they shed their nymph skins and become adults). Looks like about 20% of cicadas are affected in the study mentioned in the articles. It will be interesting to see how this story plays out. If the affected cicadas were in areas that flooded during the tsunami, it could be their bodies were damaged by water soaking the ground or flooding their tunnels.
Breaking News: Radiation has started attacking DNA.
Photos of possibly affected cicadas:
奇形ゼミ続出ã€æ”¾å°„性物質ã¯åŽŸç™ºã‹ã‚‰ï¼“ï¼ï¼km地点ã«ã¾ã§å¤§é‡é™ä¸‹ã—ãŸ.
奇形ゼミ続出ã€æ”¾å°„性物質ã¯åŽŸç™ºã‹ã‚‰ï¼“ï¼ï¼km地点ã«ã¾ã§å¤§é‡é™ä¸‹ã—ãŸ.
Use Google Translate http://translate.google.com/ if you can’t read Japanese.
September 4, 2011
Tibicen auletes from North Carolina
Here’s a Tibicen auletes found in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by my friend Erin Dickinson. The T. auletes is also known as Northern Dusk Singing cicada. It can be found in most Southern states, IL, IN, MI, OH, MD, DE, NJ and CT.
The Tibicen auletes is the largest species of the Tibicen cicadas (largest in terms of physical size). Visit Insect Singers to hear its song.
August 7, 2011
Walker’s Cicada aka Megatibicen pronotalis (aka T. walkeri, T. marginalis)
Roy Troutman sent us these amazing photos of a female Walker’s Cicada aka Megatibicen pronotalis (aka T. walkeri, T. marginalis) taken in Batavia, Ohio. As you can guess by the various akas (also known as), the Megatibicen pronotalis has been known by several species names in the past. Sometimes it takes cicada researchers a while to figure out that two different species are the same species (which is probably the case here). Tibicen pronotalis also sounds exactly like another species of Tibicen: Megatibicen dealbatus. The major difference between the M. pronotalis and the M. dealbatus is the M. dealbatus has more pruinose than the M. pronotalis. Pruinose is the white, chalky substance that appears on the bodies of cicadas.
Walker’s Cicada is found in 18 mid-western and southern states. Read more about this pretty cicada on Bug Guide, and listen to its song on Insect Singers.
