Cicada Mania

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

February 23, 2015

Photos of Cicadas of New Zealand

Filed under: Amphipsalta | Kikihia | Maoricicada | New Zealand — Dan @ 8:23 pm

Flickr.com is an excellent source of cicada photos, and it is where I go for cicada photos from New Zealand. This is a sample of the cicada photos you will find on Flickr.com.

The colorful Amphipsalta zealandica:

Chorus Cicada or Kihikihi
Photo by Sid Mosdell. Auckland New Zealand. CC BY 2.0.

Amphipsalta zelandica (ii)
Photo by Nuytsia@Tas. Punakaiki, Paporoa National Park, New Zealand. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Members of the genus Kikihia:

the singing cicada
Photo by Rosino. Auckland, New Zealand. CC BY-SA 2.0.

cicada III
Photo by aliceskr. New Zealand. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Members of the genus Maoricicada:

JJS_0101
Photos by Jon Sullivan. Auckland, New Zealand. CC BY-NC 2.0.

JJS_0068 2
Photo by Jon Sullivan. Auckland, New Zealand. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Visit NEW ZEALAND CICADAS (HEMIPTERA: CICADIDAE): A VIRTUAL IDENTIFICATION GUIDE for in-depth information about the cicadas of New Zealand.

February 22, 2015

10 Facts about Cicada Killer Wasps

Filed under: Cicada Killer Wasps | FAQs — Dan @ 8:58 pm

Elias Bonaros Cicada Killer Wasp
Photo by Elias Bonaros. The Cicada Killer is focused on the cicada, and not bothered by Elias’ finger.

Every now and then someone will email me about “a giant bee attacking a cicada”. These are not bees, these are Cicada Killer Wasps. Now is a good time to write about them because Prof. Chuck Holliday is now retired and has shut down his Cicada Killer Wasp website 1.

Here are 10 facts about Cicada Killer Wasps for you to enjoy:

  1. Yes, these wasps kill cicadas1. it works like this:
    1. The adult female wasp will paralyze the cicada with her venomous sting.
    2. The wasp will carry the cicada to a burrow, where it will place the cicada.
    3. The wasp will lay an egg under the left or right second leg of the cicada.
    4. The egg hatches and the larva begins to eat the cicada while taking care to keep it alive.
    5. Once the larva has had its fill, it spins a cocoon, in which it will change into an adult wasp.
  2. Female wasps are able to predetermine the sex of their larvae.1 They must do this because it takes more females to create new generations of wasps than it does males.
  3. Cicada Killer Wasps belong to the family Crabronidae Latreille, 1802; the tribe Bembicini Latreille, 1802 and the genus Sphecius Dahlbom, 1843 2. Crabronidae comes from the Latin word for hornet, Bembicini comes from the Greek word for buzzing insect, and Sphecius is from the Greek word for wasp.
  4. Not all Sphecius wasps in the world kill cicadas, but all Sphecius in the New World (the Americas) do 3.
  5. If you haven’t seen a Cicada Killer Wasp, they are largely black and pale yellow wasps, and are often found carrying a cicada (see image on this page).
  6. Cicada Killer Wasps are often confused with European Wasps (Vespa crabro). European Wasps are a more vibrant yellow color and feature more yellow than black. They also belong to an entirely different family of wasp: Vespidae.
  7. There are five species of Cicada Killer Wasps in the Americas 3:
    • Sphecius convallis (Patton, 1879) aka the Pacific Cicada Killer, is found in the U.S.A. and Mexico.
    • Sphecius grandis (Say, 1824), the Western Cicada Killer, is found in the U.S.A. Mexico and parts of Central America.
    • Sphecius hogardii (Latreille, 1809 aka the Caribbean Cicada Killer, is found in Florida and Caribbean countries.
    • Sphecius speciosus (Drury, 1773) aka the Eastern Cicada Killer, is found in Ontario, Canada, the U.S.A. Mexico and parts of Central America.
    • Sphecius spectabilis (Taschenberg, 1875) is found in South America.
  8. I know what you are thinking: are these terrifyingly large wasps a threat to human beings? The short answer is NO. They are so focused on cicadas or other Cicada Killer Wasps, that they could care less about you. Sure, if you step on one, squeeze one in your hand, or otherwise harass the insect, it might sting you. Unlike other wasps, it will not go out of its way to harm you. Play it safe, do not go near these wasps, particularly if you are allergic to stinging insects, or do not wish to be placed in a burrow with larvae tucked under your arm. That said, check out the video below of a Sphecius speciosus “mating ball” in Elias Bonaros’ hand:
  9. Some species of Cicada Killer Wasps show a preference for female cicadas (S. hogardii), and some seem to prefer male cicadas (S. grandis), but it is not clear why. You might think that these wasps will take more males than females because of the loud sound males cicadas make, but this is not the case 1.
  10. Cicada Killer Wasps (S. speciosus) will prey upon Magicicada periodical cicadas 3. There is a bit of a myth that Magicicada are able to avoid these wasps but that is not the case.

Bonus facts:

References:

  1. The “Biology of cicada killer wasps | Prof. Chuck Holliday's www page at Lafayette College” website which is now archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20150203211426/http://sites.lafayette.edu/hollidac/research/biology-of-cicada-killer-wasps/.
  2. The ITIS listing for Sphecius Dahlbom, 1843.
  3. Holliday, C., Hastings, J., and Coelho, J. 2009. Cicada Prey of New World Cicada Killers, Sphecius Spp. (Dahlbom, 1843) (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae). Entomological News. 120:1-17.

Bonus:

I love this tweet featuring the cicada collection of a cicada killer wasp:

Note: Cicada Killers are not related to Asian Giant Hornets currently being discussed in the press (May 2020). Cicada Killers are native to the U.S., and relatively gentle creatures (unless you are a cicada). They belong to the same order (Hymenoptera), but that’s about it.

This photo features an Asian Giant Hornet (left, under glass) and a Cicada Killer Wasp (right, above the glass):
hornet compared to wasp

Lastly, here’s a recent video of a man subjecting himself to a Cicada Killer Sting to show that you shouldn’t fear them.

February 5, 2015

Visualizing all periodical cicada broods

Filed under: John Cooley | Magicicada | Periodical | United States — Tags: , , , , , — Dan @ 7:39 pm

Isn’t this a lovely picture (updated with colors sorted)?

All Broods

This image represents the combined range of all Magicicada periodical cicada broods, including the extinct Broods XI (last recorded in Connecticut) and XXI (last recorded in Florida).

To produce this image, I visited John Cooley’s Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) Cicada Geospacial Data Clearinghouse and downloaded the Shapefile of Magicicada broods. Then I used the computer program QGIS to change the Shapefile to a KML file, and then I opened the file in Google Earth. Credit goes to John for pulling the data together into the Shapefile.

I manually edited the KML file to try to give each Brood a different color.

An interesting area is Fredrick County, where 5 different broods seem to exist (or have existed) at once.
Fredrick County VA

Peach = Brood I
Green = Brood II
Purple = Brood V
Cyan = Brood X
Red = Brood XIV

It’s also interesting that four of the broods are separated by four years: X, XIV, I, V.

January 20, 2015

Green Grocer Merch

Filed under: Australia | Cicada Mania | Cyclochila — Dan @ 6:23 am

Green Grocer

I felt bad about always using an illustration of North American cicadas, so I made a Green Grocer cicada for Australian fans.

Get this image on a shirt, mug or even a pillow case via CafePress (the mugs are the most affordable).

December 17, 2014

Behold a molting Neotibicen

Filed under: Cryptotympanini | Neotibicen | Tibicen — Tags: — Dan @ 5:48 am

Walter Abington sent us this series of photographs of a molting Neotibicen cicada. I believe the cicada is a Tibicen pruinosus based on this guide to identifying teneral Neotibicen.

November 23, 2014

If you like Twitter & Cicadas, follow these people

Filed under: Mail, Comments & Social — Dan @ 4:39 pm

I follow a narrow variety of people on Twitter, focusing on insect experts and enthusiasts, and specifically, many people who focus on cicadas. Too see all the folks I follow, Visit my Twitter account.

Only a percentage of their posts are about cicadas, but they are still the best bets for cicada news on Twitter.

Lindsay Popple @_DrPop_

Lindsay Popple runs the amazing Cicadas of Australia website. If you like cicadas in general, and specifically Australian cicadas, follow @_DrPop_.

Nathan Emery @ecotechnica

Nathan Emery, like his father David Emery is an expert on Australian cicadas. Follow him @ecotechnica.

Bill Reynolds @NCBugs

Bill has an amazing knowledge of the annual cicadas of North America, in particular Tibicen. Follow @NCBugs:

Team Cicada @Magicicada1317

Team Cicada is the team behind Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org). If you’re interested in periodical/Magicicada/17 year cicadas, follow @Magicicada1317.

税所 康正 SAISHO, Y. @Zi_kade

SAISHO, Yasumasa is the person behind the Cicadae in Japan website. If you’re interested in the cicadas of Japan, follow @Zi_kade:

New Forest Cicada @NewForestCicada

The New Forest Cicada Project are trying to find the possibly extinct New Forest Cicada in England. Follow @NewForestCicada

Cicada Mania @cicadamania

Of course you can follow Cicada Mania as well. 🙂

November 20, 2014

Australia Cicada Websites

Filed under: Australia | Websites — Dan @ 10:26 am

This is a selection of links to websites dedicated to the cicadas of Australia.

  1. A web guide to the Cicadas of Australia. BY L.W. Popple. Features an abundance of cicada information, photos and maps PHOTOS MAPS AUDIO.
  2. CSIRO Cicadidae (ento.csiro.au) Dozens of specimen photos organized by scientific name, including location information too. PHOTOS
  3. Brisbane Cicadas (brisbaneinsects.com) One of the best Australian cicada sites. Features pages for the following cicadas Brown Bunyip, Razor Grinder, Bladder Cicada, Floury Baker, Thin-striped Wattle Cicada, Small Bottle. Many photos and some audio files. PHOTOS AUDIO
  4. Narelle Power’s Cicada Photos (pbase.com) About a dozen photos, including Cicadetta oldfieldi (Wattle), Tamasa tristigma (Brown Bunyip), Psaltoda harrisii (Yellow Belly). PHOTOS
  5. Scribbly Gum’s The Summer of Signing Cicadas (abc.net.au) Many beautiful photos and fantastic information. PHOTOS MAPS
  6. Morwell National Park Online (morwellnp.pangaean.net) Photos of Cicadetta abdominalis/Grasshopper firetail, Cicadetta denisoni/Black firetail, Cyclochila australasiae/Greengrocer, Pauropsalta rubristrigata/Great montane squeaker. PHOTOS
  7. Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodges – Cicadas (rainforest-australia.com) Several photos and many lists of cicada facts. Tropical North Queensland, Australia. PHOTOS
  8. AusEmade Cicada (ausemade.com.au) An abundance of cicada information including photos and a chart that tells you where you can find cicadas by scientific and common names. PHOTOS

Magicicada cassini singing on hand

Filed under: Brood XIV | Magicicada | Roy Troutman | Sounds | Video — Tags: — Dan @ 8:48 am

From Roy Troutman: “I shot a video back in 1991 of a 17 year Magicicada cassini singing right on my hand.”

Magicicada cassini singing on hand from Roy Troutman.

The excavation skills of cicadas

Filed under: Anatomy | Magicicada | Roy Troutman — Dan @ 8:01 am

Cicadas spend most of their lives, as nymphs, underground. The large forelegs of cicada nymphs are adapted to digging through soil.

cicada foreleg
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.

White eyed magicicada by Roy Troutman

Filed under: Eye Color | Magicicada | Periodical | Roy Troutman | Video — Dan @ 7:07 am

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.

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