Cicada ManiaDouble Drummer (Thopha saccata) photos by Kevin Lee:
This is a double drummer who got stuck whilst emerging so he never got to fly and sing.. but he still saw the light of day and was in the room with the other cicadas and had a bit of company. But if I had left it on the tree he would have been eaten alive by ants.
I’m happy to announce that we received our first Australian cicada photos of this season!!! The photos were taken by Kevin Lee, Australia’s biggest cicada maniac.
According to Kevin:
This is the season for cicadas and this year they are more proliferating that usual. Some would call it a plague but I love it.
The birds (kookaburras and magpies) are having a feast!
Double Drummer (Thopha saccata):
The Double Drummer can be found in parts of eastern Queensland and Eastern NSW, from November to early March. (Moulds, M.S.. Australian Cicadas Kennsignton: New South Wales Press, 1990, p.55)
rare green yellow Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) and others:
rare green yellow Green Grocer:
Cyclochila australasiae can be found in eastern Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and most emerge in October and November (Moulds, M.S.. Australian Cicadas Kennsignton: New South Wales Press, 1990, p. 61.).
Russian fishing lure company www.apico-fish.ru used one of Roy Troutman’s cicada photos for a recent ad for cicada themed lures.
Thanks to Roy Troutman for reminding me about my interview which appeared in the Star Ledger recently. It’s about Cicada Mania and blogging in general.
‘Your voice, he interrupted, is also like a cicada, not only a corn-crake. Do you know the legend about cicadas?
They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive, they never wrote the poems
they wanted to.’
… from author John Berger.
It’s cicada time in Australia again, so I’m reposting my list of Australian cicada names. Australians are the best in the world at naming animals.
Australia has the best cicada names:
There’s plenty more on the the incredible CSIRO Common Names site.
Two new cicada photos by Iván Jesus Torresano García from Spain:
We received a report of Magicicadas being heard in the fall. Normally Magicicadas appear in the spring of course, but they might be tricked into emerging later if a dormant tree is revived.
My speculation: maybe the warm fall weather has tricked them into thinking it is spring.
I have no visual or audio evidence for you.
It’s September in the USA. The cicadas are done singing in my state (Jersey), and most of the USA. More fun next year for sure.
Thanks to Jaime for this pic of two cicadas mating:
Here’s some cicada videos Phoebe found on YouTube:
cicada singing, then crawling:
cicada singing, good side view:
Cicada mystery movement: What are they up to?
And from Japan セミã®ç”Ÿæ…‹: cicadas mating: