Category: Life Cycle

Cicadas have three types of life cycles: annual, periodical, proto-periodical.

Categories
Magicicada Periodical

The cicada emergence is over. Now what?

“Will you miss me when I’m gone?”
end of the line

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!

Learn about the most-common cicadas that live in the same areas as periodical cicadas, and then learn about the variety of cicadas found around the world.

Preserve your cicada specimens

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.

photo album

Categories
Brood XIV Magicicada Periodical

Brood XIV (14) Cicadas will emerge in 2025 in twelve states

Periodical cicada Brood XIV (14) will emerge in the spring of 2025 in Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia. The last time this brood emerged was in 2008. Special note: removing Maryland from the list.

What:

Millions of these Magicicada cicada insects:

Adult, Nymph Molting
Top: Adult. Bottom left: Nymph. Bottom right: Molted cicada.

When:

Usually beginning in May and ending in late June. These cicadas emerge approximately when the soil 8″ beneath the ground reaches approximately 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Above ground temperatures in the 70’s-80’s help warm the soil to that point. A warm rain will often trigger an emergence.

Other tips: these cicadas will emerge after the trees have grown leaves, and, according to my own observation, around the same time Iris flowers bloom.

Where:

City data comes from May 2008 and June 2008 blog comments. County locations are historical and may no-longer be accurate*.

  • Georgia counties: Fannin, Lumpkin, Rabun, Union. We’re talking the northeastern part of Georgia, within the Blue Ridge Mountains region.
  • Indiana counties: Crawford, Harrison, Perry. We’re talking the southern part of Indiana, by the Ohio River.
  • Kentucky counties: Anderson, Barren, Bath, Bell, Bourbon, Boyd, Bracken, Campbell, Carter, Clinton, Edmonson, Fayette, Franklin, Floyd, Gallatin, Grant, Hardin, Harrison, Henderson, LaRue, Laurel, Leslie, Logan, Madison, McCreary, Montgomery, Nelson, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pike, Pulaski, Rowan, Scott, Shelby, Whitley. We’re talking most of Kentucky east of U.S. Route 41, with major hot-spots along the Ohio river.
  • Kentucky cities: Adairville, Bowling Green, Corbin, Flemingsburg, Frankfort, Greensburg, Hazard, Jeffersontown (J-Town), Louisville, Radcliff, Richmond, Valley Station
  • Massachusetts counties: Barnstable, Plymouth. We’re talking Cape Cod.
  • Massachusetts places: (western half of) Cape Cod
  • New Jersey counties: Atlantic, Camden, Ocean. We’re talking southern New Jersey, where the Jersey Devil lives (he might have ate them all up).
  • New Jersey cities: Linwood, Manchester Township, Winslow Township
  • New York counties: Nassau, Suffolk. We’re talking Long Island.
  • New York cities: East Setauket and Dix Hills (thanks Elias Bonaros).
  • North Carolina counties: Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Henderson, McDowell, Mitchell, Wilkes. We’re talking western North Carolina, particularly areas heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene. It will be interesting to see if the cicadas were impacted as well, as flooding may have washed away their underground tunnels and habitat.
  • North Carolina cities: Asheville, Moravian Falls, north-west of Nashville, Wilkesboro
  • Ohio counties: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Gallia, Hamilton, Highland, Ross, Warren. We’re talking south-western Ohio, with the hottest spots just east of Cincinnati. This is the homeland of cicada-experts Gene Kritsky and Roy Troutman, and world-famous botanist Matt Berger.
  • Ohio cities: Batavia, Blue Ash, Cincinnati area, Indian Hill, Loveland, Maderia, Mariemont, Milford, Miami Twp.
  • Pennsylvania counties: Adams, Berks, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Cumberland, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union. We’re talking central Pe,nnsylvania, and random locations toward the east.
  • Pennsylvania cities: Bear Gap, Elverson
  • Tennessee counties: Bledsoe, Blount, Campbell, Carter, Cheatham, Claiborne, Cocke, Coffee, Cumberland, Davidson, Grainger, Grundy, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Marion, Putnam, Roane, Robertson, Rutherford, Sevier, Sumner, Unicoi, Williamson. We’re talking north of Nashville, north-west of Chattanooga and in random places in the eastern half of the state.
  • Tennessee cities: Cades Cove, Goodlettsville, Hampton, Muddy Pond
  • Virginia counties: Botetourt, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Wise. We’re talking western Virginia, and mostly the part tucked under Kentucky.
  • West Virginia counties: Cabell, Kanawha, Mason, Mingo, Putnam, Wyoming. We’re talking the area west of Interstate 77 (I-77), bordered by Kentucky and Ohio.
  • West Virginia cities: Huntington

More Location Tips:

* Although county locations may no longer be accurate, I like to keep them on the page in case someone discovers a small, secret or unknown population of these cicadas. People might be disappointed, but we want to know for sure that the cicadas are (or are not) thriving in historical locations. This is the cicada researcher’s dilemma: either focus on the guaranteed/sure shot locations for the general public to enjoy, or include the obscure, relic locations so we do not miss out on rare cicada sightings. Cicadas @ UCONN talks about the relationship between the different broods — Brood XIV and Brood X are closely related geographically and genetically. You might find a Brood X straggler emerging 4 years late, and mistake it for Brood XIV. If a large number (large enough to sustain future emergences) of Brood X makes the 4-year “JUMP” to be in synch with Brood XIV, they technically become Brood XIV (and the reverse is true).

1907 Map

This map comes from the 1907 publication Marlatt, C.L. 1907. The periodical cicada. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology.

Marlatt 1907 14 Brood XIV

A more modern map made by Roy Troutman

Brood XIV Map by Roy Troutman

More facts and fun:

YouTube Playlist of Brood XIV Cicadas from 2008

Categories
Audio, Sounds, Songs Magicicada Periodical

Can periodical cicadas cause hearing damage?

People ask, “Can periodical cicada singing damage hearing”? It all depends on how long you expose yourself to their song, and how close your ears are to the insect. Invest in some quality ear plugs if you are concerned. Consult a medical professional, of course. Get a Sound Level Meter.

Periodical cicada choruses are often in the 80–85db range, which the CDC says “You may feel very annoyed” and “Damage to hearing possible after 2 hours of exposure”:

80-85

If you spend a long time outside during a chorus, your ears will probably ring for hours after. That is my personal experience.

Placed directly on a microphone, I have observed periodical cicadas get as loud as 111.4db. According to the CDC, that is close enough to cause hearing damage in less than 2 minutes. Do not place male cicadas on your ear! Do not put your head right next to the tree branches where they’re singing.

111.4db

111.4db

Check out this video of Magicicada sound levels measured by an EXTECH 407730 Sound Level Meter:

How to avoid hearing them?

  1. Stay indoors
  2. Buy earplugs or headphones that block external sound
  3. Avoid their peak singing times, between 10 am and 5 pm. Before 10 am and after 5 pm are also the best times to do yard work to avoid them.

I’ve exposed myself to hundreds of hours of cicada songs. I’ve also gone to hundreds of concerts and listened to a lot of rowdy music over the years. My hearing is not great, but it is probably not due to cicadas.

It is worth mentioning that only male cicadas sing. Females make noise by flicking their wings, but they are not as loud as the males. Males have organs called tymbals that vibrate creating their signature sound.

Here are illustrations and a photo of a Magicicada’s tymbals. They have one on each side of their body:
tymbals

So what is the loudest cicada? According to the University of Florida Insect Book of World Records, “The African cicada, Brevisana brevis (Homoptera: Cicadidae) produces a calling song with a mean sound pressure level of 106.7 decibels at a distance of 50cm.” The loudest cicada in the United States, using the same methodology, is Diceroprocta apache (Davis) at 106.2db at 50cm.

I need to take measurements of Magicicada from 50cm to make a comparison. The measurements I’ve taken are in the midst of a large chorus with cicadas about a meter to 20 meters away, which falls in the 80-85db range; or directly on the mic, which gets into the 109-111db range. Your results may vary.

Categories
Brood XXIII Chris Simon Magicicada Periodical Stragglers

Brood XXIII Cicada Stragglers are emerging!

BROODXXIII

One phenomenal behavior of Magicicada periodical cicadas is they “straggle”, meaning they emerge earlier or later than the year they are expected. Typically they emerge 1 or 4 years before they’re supposed to emerge.

Brood XXIII is expected to emerge in four years in 2028, but enough are emerging in 2024 for cicada researchers like Chris Simon to take notice! She let us know about the stragglers on May 8th.

Brood XXIII is found in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. This is not a perfect map (it overlaps with Brood XIX), but XXIII cicadas will show up in that area.

Arkansas: Bayou Deview Wildlife Management Area, Poinsett County, Devalls Bluff, Harrisburg, Holland Bottoms, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Knox Co., Lake Hogue, Lake Poinsett State Park, Little Rock, and Wynne.

Illinois: Anna, Carbondale, Carterville, Chester, Clinton Lake, Marissa and Robinson.

Indiana: Harmonie State Park, Hymera, Leanne, Richland, Sullivan And Posey Counties.

Kentucky: Benton, Calvert City, Gilbertsville, Henry County, Murray, and Paducah.

Louisiana: Bastrop, Choudrant, Grayson and West Monroe.

Mississippi: Alva, Arlington, Booneville, Brandon, Clinton, Corinth, Desoto County, Florence, French Camp, Hernando, Holcomb, Houlka, Jackson, New Albany, Oxford, Potts Camp, Silver Creek, Tishomingo, and Water Valley.

Tennessee: Atoka, Benton, Cordova, Henry County, Huntingdon, Jackson, Lavinia, Leach, Lexington, McNeary County, Memphis, Paris, Savannah, and Speedwell.

Here’s a blue overlay of there Brood XXIII emerges from the UCONN map on the iNaturalist data (as of May 5th):

Brood XXIII overlay

Surrounding the blue area on the west and east is Brood XIX and north will be Brood XIII.

More info:

Categories
Magicicada Nymphs Periodical

How to tell if a Magicicada periodical cicada nymph is ready to molt

How can you tell if a Magicicada periodical cicada nymph is ready to molt?

Answer: look for two black spots on its back (technically the cephalothorax). They look like they are wearing aviator sunglasses pushed up on their forehead!

A diagram that shows when a nymph is ready to molt.

I do not know the official name for these spots, but they seem to be related to the pigment that turns the cicadas black after they molt. They may scare away predators that think the spots are big eyes!

Here are a few ideas for a name for them:
obscuras maculas
mutatione macularum

Categories
Brood XIII Brood XIX Magicicada Periodical

A quick way to tell the difference between the 7 periodical cicadas species

Here is a quick way to tell the difference between the 7 periodical cicada species:

Download this chart. Click/tap for a larger version:

The songs of Magicicada cassini (17-year) and Magicicada tredecassini (13-year) are essentially identical:

M. cassini:

M. tredecassini:

The songs of Magicicada septendecula (17-year) and Magicicada tredecula (13-year) are essentially identical:

M. septendecula (©Joe Green):

M. tredecula:

The songs of Magicicada septendecim (17-year), M. neotredecim (13-year), and Magicicada tredecim (13-year) are essentially identical. M. neotredecim varies the sound of its call in the presence of M. tredecim.

M. septendecim:

M. neotredecim (© Insect Singers)

M. tredecim (© Insect Singers)

And/or watch this video:

Then read this and listen to the sound files on the page: Where will 17 & 13 Year Periodical Cicada Broods emerge next?

Categories
Annual Proto-periodical

2023 North American Annual Cicadas Location Project on iNaturalist

Neotibicen tibicen aka Morning Cicada aka Swamp Cicada formerly Tibicen chloromera is the winner!!

August 11 Neotibicen (small)

Summary below and on iNaturalist.

As of December 31st, 2023

Neotibicen tibicen, aka the Swamp Cicada aka Morning cicada, is the winner.

Is there a chance another annual or proto-periodical cicada is more plentiful in North America? Yes of course, but in areas where people are using the iNaturalist app most frequently, which is likely not isolated or out of the way areas, Neotibicen tibicen was most plentiful.

Methodology:
1) Downloaded *Research Grade* data from the 2023 North American Annual Cicadas project.
2) Combined sub-species with species counts. In other words, I totaled Neotibicen tibicen + Neotibicen tibicen tibicen + Neotibicen tibicen australis to get Neotibicen tibicen.
3) The 1 species per user + location column reduces the number by one species per user per location. In other words, if I submitted 50 Neotibicen tibicens in Edison, New Jersey, it only counts as 1 (one).

Cicada 1 species per user + location Species totals
Neotibicen tibicen 402 437
Neotibicen lyricen 193 201
Neotibicen superbus 188 263
Megatibicen resh 155 232
Neotibicen pruinosus 139 178
Neotibicen canicularis 125 134
Megatibicen grossus 76 81
Neocicada hieroglyphica 54 63
Neotibicen robinsonianus 47 51
Pacarina puella 41 56
Neotibicen linnei 34 36
Diceroprocta apache 28 35
Neotibicen winnemanna 23 26
Megatibicen pronotalis 23 25
Neotibicen davisi 18 19
Megatibicen dealbatus 17 17
Quesada gigas 15 16
Megatibicen dorsatus 14 16
Megatibicen figuratus 13 14
Diceroprocta vitripennis 9 11
Platypedia putnami 7 19

Tibicen tibicen wins!

About the project

There are 3 types of cicada lifecycles:
1) Periodical: cicadas with a life cycle set to a specific number of years, with a predictable series of emergence years. Magicicada, for instance, emerges every 17 or 13 years depending on the species, and we have a calendar of years when and where they will emerge. Some “stragglers” do emerge each year.
2) Annual: cicadas that emerge every year without fail.
3) Proto-periodical: cicadas that emerge in small numbers every year (annual), but the size of the emergence varies significantly from year to year. Examples include Platypedia (see Platypedia putnami survey at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space by Tim McNary) and Okanagana (see Predator avoidance leads to separate emergence cycles in the protoperiodical Okanagana magnifica).

Considering there would only be Periodical stragglers in 2023, it was a perfect year for an iNaturalist project focusing on cicadas that emerge annually: 2023 North American Annual Cicadas Location Project.

2023 Project

This project includes all of North America, which includes Mexico, the United States, and Canada. iNaturalist determines the geographical footprint. It seems like most of the folks using the iNaturalist app are in the United States.

Typically cicadas in the southernmost, warmest areas (Mexico, Texas) emerge first. Cicadas that have black bodies like Platypedia can tolerate colder temperatures because the sun warms them up, so they’ll emerge in northern areas before other types of cicadas.

As of September 2nd

#1 Morning Cicada, #2 Superb Dog-day Cicada, #3 Resh Cicada, #4 Northern Dog-Day Cicada, and #5 Lyric Cicada. My prediction is that the Northern Dog-Day cicada will surpass Resh in a week or so.

Screen Shot 2023-09-02 at 10.42.25 AM

As of August 25th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Morning Cicada, #3 Resh Cicada, #4 Northern Dog-Day Cicada, and #5 Lyric Cicada.

As of August 11th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Northern Dog-Day Cicada.

Scissor(s) Grinder slipped to 6th place.

As of August 6th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Scissor(s) Grinder.

As of July 30th

#1 Superb Dog-day Cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Hieroglyphic Cicada.

As of July 23rd

,
#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Hieroglyphic Cicada, and #5 Little Mesquite Cicada.

The Texan cicada hunters are dominating…

As of July 18th,#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Hieroglyphic Cicada, #4 Little Mesquite Cicada, and #5 Morning Cicada.

As of July 7th, the top 5 cicadas are The Superb Dog-day Cicada, the Resh Cicada, Hieroglyphic Cicada, the Little Mesquite Cicada, and the Lyric Cicada.

As of June 30th, the top 5 cicadas are: The Superb Dog-day Cicada, the Resh Cicada, the Little Mesquite Cicada, Hieroglyphic Cicada, and Putnam’s Cicada (a Platypedia).

Screen Shot 2023-06-30 at 9.14.13 AM

Categories
Books Brood XIII Brood XIX Magicicada Periodical

New Brood XIX and XIII Cicada Book by Dr. Gene Kritsky

Cicada researcher and communicator Dr. Gene Kritsky has a new book about Brood XIX and XIII which are both emerging in the spring of 2024: A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX. It is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX

Other posts about Dr. Gene Kritsky on this site:

  1. An Interview with Gene Kritsky
  2. Gene Kritsky’s new cicada site and Brood XIV news
  3. Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition by Gene Kritsky
  4. Gene’s App: Cicada Safari app for tracking Magicicada periodical cicadas
Categories
Books Magicicada Periodical

Cicadapocalypse a graphic novel about periodical cicadas by Roger McMullan

Roger McMullan has a new graphic novel about periodical cicadas called Cicadapocalypse. You can obtain a copy from Roger’s online store.

As I understand it, “the book is intended as an introduction to periodical cicadas for curious kids during a cicada emergence by creating a fictional narrative around the cicadas rather than hitting them over the head with facts”. A cicada emergence through the eyes of some shocked and surprised cartoon squirrels.

It looks fun to me.

cicadapocalypse

Categories
Brood II Edward Johnson Elias Bonaros John Cooley Magicicada Periodical Photos & Illustrations Roy Troutman

Roy Troutman’s 2013 Brood II cicada photos, gallery 3

When Roy Troutman visited New Jersey and New York in 2013 for Brood II he took a lot of great cicada photos.

Here is a sample of the best.
Click the images for a larger version.
Also visit Gallery #1 and Gallery #2.

Magicicada molting by Roy Troutman
Magicicada molting by Roy Troutman

Magicicada with exuvia by Roy Troutman
Magicicada with exuvia by Roy Troutman

Mustard eyed Magicicada septendecim by Roy Troutman
Mustard eyed Magicicada septendecim by Roy Troutman

Roy Troutman and Elias Bonaros at the Periodical Cicada display at the American Museum of Natural History, photo by Michelle Troutman
Roy Troutman, John Cooley, Ed Johnson and Dan Mozgai

Roy Troutman, John Cooley, Ed Johnson and Dan Mozgai
Roy Troutman and Elias Bonaros at the Periodical Cicada display at the American Museum of Natural History by Michelle Troutman

Teneral Magicada by Roy Troutman
Teneral Magicada by Roy Troutman