I created a 2024 North American Proto-Periodical & Annual Cicada Location Project on iNaturalist.
Why?
1) Because the periodical cicadas get all the spotlight… that said do sign up for the 2024 Magicicada: Broods XIII and XIX iNaturalist project.
2) Because the 2023 project was a success.
What is it about?
2024 North American Proto-Periodical and Annual Cicadas
This project will document the location of cicada species that emerge semi-annually and annually* in North America.
2024 is a huge year for Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada Broods XIX and XIII) so it is very useful to track other types of cicadas lest they be lost in the frenzy of attention for the Periodicals.
Cicada genera of North America include: Beameria, Cacama, Cicadettana, Clidophleps, Cornuplura, Diceroprocta, Hadoa, Megatibicen, Neocicada, Neoplatypedia, Neotibicen, Okanagana, Okanagodes, Pacarina, Platypedia (Proto-Periodical), Quesada and Tibicinoides. There are over 200 species of cicada in North America that emerge annually or semi-annually.
Note: *Cicadas that emerge every 13 or 17 years are known as “Periodical cicadas” because they emerge periodically. In North America the genus that emerges periodically is Magicicada. Some species like Platypedia have a prototypical periodicity to their emergences, but it is usually due to influences like weather events or overpopulation underground rather than a predictable number of years.