I spotted this odd gashapon (Japanese gumball machine) toy featuring a cicada exuvia with a sniper molting from it on Aliexpress.
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Category: Exuvia
I had virtually no time in the summer of 2023 to look for cicadas outside my town. Also in 2023, the name of Megatibicen auletes (Germar, 1834) aka Northern Dusk Singing Cicada changed to Megatibicen grossus. While I was not lucky enough to see a Megatibicen grossus, I did find exuvia (molted skins), a headless corpse and some exit holes in late August in the Brendan Byrne park in New Jersey. Something is better than nothing.
A male exuvia and a headless female Megatibicen grossus
A headless female Megatibicen grossus
A Megatibicen grossus exuvia with ruler.
A Megatibicen grossus hole
Three exuvia top to bottom: Megatibicen auletes, Neotibicen sp., Neocicada hieroglyphica
My family and I captured and molted over 50 Neotibicen cicadas in 2023. We molt them in butterfly pavilions and then release them the next day. Most are Neotibicen tibicen tibicen (Morning cicadas).
Here’s the collection of exuvia (skins) as of August 4th.
SoNtt Calendar: July 16th, July 22nd, July 23rd part 1, July 23rd part 2, July 24th, July 26th, July 27th, July 28th, July 29th, July 30th part 1, July 30th part 2, August 1st, August 4th, August 9th, August 11th, August 13th.
Updating (9/8) with some photos of an adult male Hieropglyhic cicada.
Updating (6/28) with some more locations: Bass River Park (E Greenbrook Rd), Harrisville Pond, Franklin Parker preserve.
Cicada season started in New Jersey last week with the emergence and singing of Neocicada Hieroglyphica aka the Hieroglyphic cicada. I heard them in Brendan T. Byrne state park and Hammonton. Someone on our Instagram said he heard them in Vineland.
Cicadas.info which specializes in the cicadas of the Mid-Atlantic, has Hieropglyhic cicadas starting around June 8th — this makes sense because they’re found in Florida, as well as more northern states like New Jersey and New York (Long Island).
You can hear their high-pitched screams in this video:
Here is the molted skin of a Hieroglyphic cicada:
Brood II Magicicada from Edison, New Jersey (2013).
A mess of Magicicada exuvia and corpses at the foot of a tree in Roosevelt Park in Edison NJ:
David Rothenberg, John Cooley, Asher Jay and others looking for cicadas in Roosevelt Park:
Magicicada septendecim laying eggs _ovipositing_ in Roosevelt Park in Edison NJ:
Magicicada septendecim laying eggs ovipositing in Roosevelt Park in Edison NJ:
Magicicada septendecim with Massospora fungus found at the Edison Memorial Tower Park in Edison NJ:
Many Magicicada emergence holes in Edison Memorial Tower park in Edison NJ:
Mating Magicicada in Roosevelt Park in Edison NJ:
Mating Magicicada in Roosevelt Park NJ:
Mirror Image – Edison Memorial Tower Park:
Okanagana rimosa exuvia (skins, shells) photos by Elias Bonaros. From 2010, I believe.
Note the dark lines on the abdomen — that’s an easy way to distinguish Okanagana exuvia from other types of cicadas.
Magicicada skins (exuvia) blanket the ground around the roots of a tree. This is a photo of periodical cicada skins taken by John Cooley of Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) in Warriors’ Path State Park, TN, in 2012. Brood I.
Cicada Nymph Exoskeleton (skin, “shell”, exuvia) by Andrea from 2005.
I believe this is from a Neotibicen (United States).
A photo of a Megatibicen auletes compared to a smaller Neotibicen exuvia (I believe it is an N. canicularis based on the time of year and location (mid-New Jersey)).
When a cicada sheds its nymphal skin, revealing its adult form, we call it ecdysis. You probably call it molting, and that’s just fine.
Here are a bunch of videos of cicadas moulting:
Here is a Magicicada nymph molting (the 17-year variety) by Roy Troutman:
Magicicada nymph molting from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
Annual cicada molting to an adult by Roy:
Annual cicada molting to an adult from Roy Troutman on Vimeo.
Here is Tibicen moulting by blackpawphoto (YouTube Link):
Here is a video of a Japanese cicada, the Terpnosia nigricosta, moulting by AntoSan09 (YouTube Link):