Looking at data from Google Trends(columns) and iNaturalist(lines), it looks like 2024 will be the best year in over ten years, with 2020, 2017 and 2013 being peak years (but not the biggest). iNaturalist is also a relatively new app/website; my guess is its user base wasn’t big enough until 2019 to compare to Google Trends.
If my boss fires me tomorrow, I’m headed to Australia.
Most of my cicada experience happens in the state of New Jersey, particularly central New Jersey (which does exist: it is comprised of Middlesex, Sommerset, Hunterdon and Mercer counties). Typically, in central and northern New Jersey, the summer cicada season will kick off in late June with the emergence of Neotibicen lyricen and end with the grinding calls of Neotibicen canicularis in the middle of September. Central New Jersey has these annual cicada species: Neotibicen lyricen (both sub-species), Neotibicen linnei, Neotibicen tibicen, Neotibicen winnemanna, Neotibicen canicularis, and possibly Megatibicen grossus in the south, and Okanagana rimosa in the north-west. Periodical cicadas are also found in the area, but not in the summer, and not in 2024.
Neotibicen tibicen aka Morning Cicadas (most call them Swamp Cicadas — I do not because it is not a helpful description) are abundant in my location and do well with both Spruce and Maple trees.
The summer of 2024 was a strange one:
I didn’t find my first Morning (Neotibicen tibicen tibicen) cicada until July 7th (about a week late), found my last one on August 9th (about two weeks early).
The last cicada I heard sing was during the last week of August, about two weeks early.
June high temperatures were 5 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average (avg. 1991-2020), and there was 30% less precipitation. A HOT and DRY start.
July high temperatures were 2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average (avg. 1991-2020), and there was 20% less precipitation. A hot and DRY mid-season.
August high temps were flat, but there was +51% more precipitation. Average temperatures, and wet finale.
Neotibicen cicadas are around every where, but there are good years and great years. 2024 was not great. I don’t know if the extra HOT and dry weather had an impact, but it may have. Lots of “maybes”.
Here’s some photos of molting Neotibicen tibicen for you to enjoy:
Bladder Cicadas are out in Australia, as reported by Ben McBurney on the Facebook Cicada Science & Discussion group.
Bladder Cicadas are green, sing at night, and have large abdomens. Are they katydid mimics, or just filling the same niche? Seems like it. According to Ben they sound like frogs, so maybe they’re frog mimics as well.
The New Jersey Pine Barrens aka Pinelands or simply “Pines” is a large forested area of southern New Jersey known for its pine trees, sandy soils, culture, and history. It is called the Pine Barrens because the soil is not suitable for livestock or farming, except for acid-loving native plants like blueberries and cranberries. It is also home to a variety of carnivorous plants and orchids, rarely found elsewhere in the state. Culturally, it is known for myths like the Jersey Devil, real legends like Dr. James Still and blueberry cultivator Elizabeth Coleman White, residents known as “Pineys”, John McPhee’s book The Pine Barrens, folk music, and some of the best ice cream in New Jersey (White Dotte Dairy Bar, Evergreen Dairy Bar). The Pinelands have been the host of many industries including iron (from bog iron), charcoal, glass, timber, decorative flowers, cranberry and blueberry farming. Ecologically, the Pinelands are an oasis in a state otherwise known for sprawling condominiums, massive warehouses and industrial wastelands. Hopefully the Pinelands remains ecologically pure in the future, as it does today.
Amongst the pine trees and oaks that dominate the area, there are cicadas to match them. The heart of the Pinelands are dominated by — as you might guess — by Pitch Pine trees (Pinus rigida). White Oaks (Quercus alba) are found throughout the region, and notably around its perimeter. You’ll also find juniper trees here and there, especially in Cape May county, and deciduous trees like Maples where people settled the land and on the very edges of the region. I wonder if the screams of cicadas are mistaken for the screams of the Jersey Devil!
Caution: most of the Pinelands is protected. Do not take specimens home. Take photos and videos, but leave the cicadas in the Pinelands.
Stay alert: there are bears, rattlesnakes, deer ticks, mosquitoes and biting flies in the Pine Barrens. The area is also prone to fire, partly because of the sappy pine trees, which rely on the heat of a fire to open their cones.
Annual species:
Neocicada hieroglyphica aka the Hieroglyphic Cicada
Brood II (back in 2030): is found in Belleplain State Forest; in the area north of rt. 40 & east of rt. 54; and in Atlantic County in the Egg Harbor City area. In 1998 they were found in Stafford Forge State Conservation Area, and along rt. 70 near Leisure Village.
Brood X (back in 2038): is found east of rt. 206 south of Chatsworth Road, and Vineland.
Brood XIV (back in 2024): was found in 1988 north of rt. 70 in Manchester, and in Linwood (just outside the Pines).
How rare are Magicicadas cicadas with white or blue eyes?
Do we include yellowish-white/cream-colored eyes? Gray eyes?
“One in a million!”
“One in 100,000?”
“One in 1000”?
Let’s look at some data. Since its beginning, as of June 19th, 2024, iNaturalist has had 27,294 Research Grade Magicicada sightings, and 136 Research Grade “Magicicada eye color=blue/white” cicadas. So, in the iNaturalist data set, one in 201 Magicicada have white or blue eyes.
The number of white/blue eyed Magicicada is without a doubt more than one in 201, but not one in a million. Personally, I’ve found at least one cicada with white or blue eyes per emergence. My guess is the number is closer to one in 10,000.
But don’t tell anyone who is excited about a one in a million find. Let them have their fun and happiness. 🙂
It appears that this Cicada Bug Coloring & Activity Book is the second most popular cicada book on Amazon. This took me by surprise. I have not read it, so I cannot vouch for its quality.
There is an “old wives tale” that says that if you see a “W” on a cicada’s wing that there will be war, and if you see a “P” there will be peace. What you see is in the eyes of the “bugholder”, but I’ve personally only seen a “W”, which almost seems logical, because there is always a war going on somewhere.
As I write this, the Brood XIX emergence is all but over, and Brood XIII has about two weeks left to go.
So what’s next? Well, I’ll tell you.
Upload your photos to iNaturalist and the Cicada Safari app
You can help cicada researchers by uploading your photos to iNaturalist or the Cicada Safari app.
iNaturalist is excellent for all animals — plus plants and fungi — not just cicadas. You will find yourself using it all year long. Cicada Safari is specifically for cicadas.
Learn about Annual species of cicadas
There are more to cicadas that just Periodical cicadas.
Cicadas exist on every continent except for Antarctica, and in every State in the U.S. except for Hawaii and Alaska!
Saving cicada skins (molts/shells) and wings is easy. Just keep them dry.
Preserving Periodical cicadas can be challenging because their eye colors fade and because they’re fatty and smell.
If you want to preserve eye colors, keeping them in alcohol seems to work best.
Some people dip them in acetone to mitigate the smell from decaying fat, but I’ve never tried it.
Otherwise, keep them dry and in a cedar box. I use silica gel packs to keep them dry. Cedar repels small insects that will eat your cicada collection. Moth balls work as well to keep tiny insects away from your collection.
If you want to pin your cicadas, so the wings are spread out, you have to do it while the cicadas are still moist. Plenty of places have supplies, like Carolina Biological Supply. I’ve softened hard cicadas by placing them in Tupperware/Rubbermaid containers with moist paper towels and a moth ball to prevent mold.
Make a scrapbook of your cicada memories
Make a scrapbook or photo album of your cicada memories.
This is something I do every year, though I tend to mix it up with non-cicada photos as well.
Green Grocer Cicada image by Bron.
