Category: Brood XIV

Cicada Mania 2008, so far

Last Saturday I (Dan) drove out to western Ohio with the goal of meeting up with fellow cicada maniac Roy Troutman and his family, and observing the 2008 Brood XIV emergence.

So far in 2008, Roy and I:

Observed massive emergences in Loveland, Blue Ash, Mariemont and Indian Hill.
Collected nymphs for a scientific experiment (not sure I can divulge the details).
Met and had breakfast with cicada expert Gene Kritsky in Mariemont, which was inundated with cicadas.
Met Samuel Orr, who is best know for his film Return of the 17-Year Cicadas.
Collected adult Magicicada septendecula for a breeding experiment to be conducted by John Cooley…
Spent part of the day with John, even stopping by the Circle K for some road food.

Roy has collected 2 white eyed cicadas so far, and I’ve handed out a bunch of Cicada Mania buttons. If you see me and ask for one, and I have some with me, it’s yours.

Today I’m leaving Ohio, and headed across Pennsylvania. I plan on stopping around Middletown, Cornwall and Morgantown, where cicadas have been sighted. Then it’s back to homebase in New Jersey were I’ll try to verify the 1906 records of 17 year cicadas in Red Bank, and well as continue to post updates.

Magicicada emergence in Mariemont Ohio in 2008

Post author By Dan
Post date June 5, 2008
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Magicicada adults and nymphs in Mariemont Ohio in 2008.

Magicicada emergence in Mariemont Ohio in 2008 from Cicada Mania.

Brood XIV Roy Troutman

Roy’s Brood XIV Photography

Post author By Dan
Post date June 4, 2008
2 Comments on Roy’s Brood XIV Photography

Here’s quite a few photos Roy has taken of the emergence. It’s kind of ironic that I’m staying with Roy and his family, and yet it’s taken me this long to post the photos.

17 year Brood XIV cicadas

Brood XIV Gene Kritsky Roy Troutman

BBC Filming in Mariemont

I’m catching up on the photos Roy Troutman has sent me.

Here’s photos from a BBC photoshoot in Mariemont Ohio, taken on May 24th. The photos feature cicada expert Gene Kritsky.

BBC Filming in Mariemont

Brood XIV FAQs

Where are they now, and what is that smell?

Post author By Dan
Post date June 4, 2008
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Where:

Folks wondering where the cicadas are now should take a look at the ‘Where Are They Now’ page on The Mount’s Cicada Web Site or the ‘See a map of 2008 Periodical Cicada sightings’ page on magicicada.org. You can zoom in on the maps and find public spaces (like parks) which you can visit to experience the event. You can report your sightings to these websites as well.

What’s that smell?
The one aspect of these cicadas that most cicada sites don’t discuss is the odor that their rotting corpses produce, to paraphrase John Cooley. Cicadas can get real funky, and by funky I don’t mean Parliament-Funkadelic funky, or even Red Hot Chilli Peppers funky — I mean “someone filled running sneakers with cheese and pork fried rice and left it in the trunk of their car in July” funky. Cicadas do stink, especially when their bodies pile up at the base of trees, and get soaked with rain, and then baked in the late-spring heat. They smell like a rotten pork roll, bacon, and cheese sandwich to me. They really do. They’re fleshy insects — get a pile of them together, and it’s just like having a rotten pile of meat and fat in your yard.

So what can you do about the funk? Clean up before they get funky. Be proactive. Just get a shovel and dispose of them with your garbage, bury them like a Soprano, or put them in your compost pile (they are very, very mineral-rich and will make great fertilizer for trees and shrubs). I don’t recommend burning them, and that might increase the stink, nor do I recommend grabbing handfuls of rotting, wet corpses and throwing them at your friends. Bad idea.

Anatomy Brood XIV

Light on the pronotum

Roy Troutman’s brother in law Gary spotted this Magicicada with an unusually light pronotum. Normally the pronotum features 2 dark/black patches. In this example they are almost non-existent.

Pronotum light

Brood XIV

New York and Massachusetts have begun

Post author By Dan
Post date June 2, 2008
2 Comments on New York and Massachusetts have begun

According to reports on the message board, other cicada sites and the media, the emergence has begun in Long Island and Massachusetts. The only state not to check in so far has been New Jersey. I can speculate why, but I won’t in this forum.