Cicada Mania – Page 163 – Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.

Mystery Cicada 2 is a Neotibicen dorsatus

Post author By Dan
Post date September 5, 2005
6 Comments on Mystery Cicada 2 is a Neotibicen dorsatus

Mystery 2 Bill from Lincoln, Nebraska sent us this awesome photo of a cicada. I’ve never seen a cicada quite like this one. It’s as pretty as a butterfly. My guess is it belongs to the genus Diceroprocta, but I don’t know what species it is. Anyone know? If so, leave your guess in the comments section below.

Tim McNary wrote:

The cicada you pictured is either Tibicen dealbatus or Tibicen dorsatus. It’s kind of hard to tell from a picture. If you found it in trees in town, it is probably T. dealbatus. If you found in grassy sandhills and the pronotum in swollen in profile it is probably T. dorsatus. The characture that Davis uses, the shape of the uncus, is actually unreliable.

David and Gerry said it was a Tibicen dorsatus (formerly T. dorsata).

Tags M. dorsatus

Arts & Crafts

A Cicada Poem from David Granville

Post author By Dan
Post date August 28, 2005
2 Comments on A Cicada Poem from David Granville

Cicada Songs (for “Cicada Mania”)

They say your songs
portend the end of summer
just as chirping robins
usher in the spring air.

Listen to the sound
whirring, buzzing through
leaves of trees that shelter
the thrumming brood.

Insect monks chant
hymns of nature
for us and for
their silent females: “mate her.”

More musical than electric currents
that hum along power lines,
your symphony hovers,
guarding the sultry night like armored palatines.

Constant and pervasive,
we humans sometimes hear
sometimes ban your frequencies,
lulled to sleep by drums so dear.

Air conditioners and headphones
drown out your beautiful noise
but others sing with you
till Fall’s frost steals these little joys.

-DFG

Pop Culture

International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI)

Post author By Dan
Post date August 24, 2005
1 Comment on International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI)

In October 2005 the 6th International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI) will be held in Prades France.

From the FIFI homepage:

Since 1995, OPIE-LR (Office for the Insects and their Environment in Languedoc-Roussillon) has organized the International Festival of Film on Insects every two years.

This 6th biennial event will take place from 5th to 9th October 2005 in Prades (Pyrénées Orientales) in southern France.

FIFI is a cultural, educational, scientific and convivial feast with an international dimension. This year it occurs in a unique natural site: Canigou mountain, which has 7 Nature Reserves and the Regional Natural Park of Pyrénées Catalanes

Audio, Sounds, Songs Neotibicen

Louder than a lawnmower

Someone asked how loud Neotibicens were in terms of decibels. According to the University of Florida Book of Insect Records the Tibicen resh has a maximum sound pressure level of 107.2db, and the Tibicen pronotalis has a max SPL of 108.9db. Other species of Tibicen seem to max out around 80-100db.

Bonus unrelated link:

A French Canadian Tibicen page (thanks Roy).

Neotibicen Tibicen

A cicada and an leafhopper

Post author By Dan
Post date August 14, 2005
6 Comments on A cicada and an leafhopper

Cicada and a leaf hopper

Here’s a cute image for you: a cicada and its cousin, the leafhopper, in the same picture. If you look closely, you’ll see they look alike. Cicadas and leafhoppers belong to the same superfamily called Cicadoidea. Cicadas belong to the family Cicadidae, and leafhoppers belong to the family Cicadellidae.

FAQs

How to find and photograph cicadas at night

Post author By Dan
Post date August 13, 2005
2 Comments on How to find and photograph cicadas at night

A tisket a tasket cicadas on a basket
Check your trees at night for molting cicadas.

Here are some tips for finding and photographing newly emerged cicadas at night:

Look for cicadas on trees where you’ve heard cicadas during the day, or where you’ve seen cicada nymph exoskeletons.
Cicada nymphs emerge from the ground shortly after dusk. You can start your hunt then.
Carry a flashlight and your camera. As you approach a tree, shine the flashlight on the ground close to the tree. You don’t want to step on any of them!
Scan the tree trunk and all the limbs with your flashlight. Once you spot one, get ready with your camera.
If you don’t spot any cicadas after dusk, try a half hour later, and then a half an hour after that, up until 11 pm.
Non-techie digital camera tips:
1. Set the camera on auto or portrait (usually a picture of a profile).
2. Set the focus on Macro (usually a picture of a tulip) or manual.
3. Experiment with these settings.
Don’t touch the cicadas: for the most natural photos, you don’t want them to be disturbed.

Good luck. I hope they’ll work for you!

Neotibicen Tibicen

Identify the cicada!

Update: Gerry Bunker nailed it: it’s a Neotibicen superbus. Notice that the “McDonald’s Arch” is separated.

Here’s a challenge for all you cicada maniacs: identify this cicada! Even I don’t know what it is. Place your guesses in the Comments (see link below).

The photo was taken by Elise Solloway in Oklahoma in August of this year.