Cicada Mania

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

April 24, 2009

Be on the lookout for Brood XIV stragglers?

Filed under: Brood XIV | Magicicada | Periodical Stragglers — Dan @ 6:23 am

Be on the lookout for Brood XIV stragglers. A few Magicicada that didn’t emerge in 2008 should appear in 2009! Keep your eyes and ears peeled.

April 18, 2009

Cicada Pull Toy

Filed under: Roy Troutman | Toys and Amusements — Dan @ 1:27 pm

Today I found this cicada-shaped toy in my mail.

Cicada Toy

Thanks Roy Troutman!

April 11, 2009

Fantastic Magicicada Tattoo

Filed under: Tattoos — Dan @ 7:46 am


3-22-2009-1, originally uploaded by Kate loves vee dubs.

Take a look at Kate’s Magicicada tattoo. It is fantastic!

March 16, 2009

New Cicada Photos from Santisuk Vibul in Thailand.

Filed under: Anatomy | Thailand — Dan @ 8:25 pm

New Cicada Photos from Santisuk Vibul in Thailand.

New cicada photos from Santisuk Vibul’s in Thailand.

February 28, 2009

Cicada Products

Filed under: Pop Culture — Dan @ 1:21 pm

Thanks to Roy for this link to wholesale manufacturers and their cicada-related goods. My favorite is the Canned Jinchan.

JINCHAN

February 19, 2009

Cyphonia trifida (Membracidae), Venezuela

Filed under: News — Dan @ 10:23 pm

This is not a cicada, but it looks like one, right? Like a cicada from Mars. This is a Treehopper (Membracidae). They belong to the same Order/Suborder & Infraorder as Cicadas (more info on the Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membracidae)

January 19, 2009

Bagpipe Cicada

Filed under: Australia | David Emery | Lembeja — Tags: , — Dan @ 6:35 pm

This is a photo of the amazing Bagpipe cicada (Lembeja paradoxa) was taken by Timothy Emery (David Emery’s son).

Attached is a photo taken by my son, Timothy Emery from Thursday Island, Torres Strait off Cape York, Queensland. This a male “bagpipe cicada” (Lembeja paradoxa) singing for his female. These guys at rest look like dead leaves with wings folded under stems of grass, but when singing at dusk, rush up the stems and can expand their abdomens incredibly up to 5-10 x resting size (hence the bagpipe bit) and emit a very loud droning sound for their size. A great emergence of these on Thursday Island in the first 2 weeks of January.

Lembeja paradoxa (Karsch, 1890)

The Bagpipe cicada can be found in the Northern tip of Queensland, from October to February, but they’re most common during January. (Moulds, M.S.. Australian Cicadas Kennsignton: New South Wales Press, 1990, p. 178)

delicious cicadas

Filed under: Eating Cicadas — Dan @ 1:17 pm


delicious cicadas, originally uploaded by istolethetv.

Cicadas: it’s what’s for dinner!

January 15, 2009

Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid

Filed under: Australia | David Marshall | Kathy Hill — Dan @ 10:34 pm

David Marshall and Kathy Hill have discovered that a particular species of katydid mimics the wing-flick of female cicadas to lure male cicadas to their certain doom.

We have found that predatory Chlorobalius leucoviridis katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) can attract male cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) by imitating the species-specific wing-flick replies of sexually receptive female cicadas. This aggressive mimicry is accomplished both acoustically, with tegminal clicks, and visually, with synchronized body jerks. Remarkably, the katydids respond effectively to a variety of complex, species-specific Cicadettini songs, including songs of many cicada species that the predator has never encountered.

Read the entire research article: Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid.

January 11, 2009

HD Cicada Videos from Roy Troutman

Filed under: Anatomy | Brood XIV | Magicicada | Roy Troutman | Video — Dan @ 7:36 pm

Here’s something special. Roy Troutman has uploaded some HD quality videos of Magicicadas to YouTube. Click the links to see the full-size versions.

Periodical Cicada sitting on leaf in HD:

Periodical Cicada’s heart pumping in HD:

Cicada molting in HD:

Here’s a Brood XIV Roy created as well:

Brood XIV Map by Roy Troutman

« Newer PostsMore »

Cicada T-shirts