There is a new cicada keychain toy from Japan. It comes in five colors, and produces its sound using a wind up mechanism. Buy it here.
Category: Japan
Every now and then I treat myself to a cicada book from Japan. Cicadas are called semi in Japan, which seems to be spelled セミ or è‰. Enter セミ or è‰ into the Amazon.co.jp search box and you’ll find a bunch of cicada books (amongst other things).
I’ve already written about Dr. M. Haysashi and Dr. Yasumasa Saisho‘s fantastic The Cicadidae of Japan book. Here are some others:
セミ観察記 (写真絵本 ã¼ãã®åºã«ããŸè™«ãŸã¡):
This book features huge photos of cicadas through all phases of their lives. It also features diagrams of their lifecycle and underground tunnels.
セミ・カメムシã®ä»²é–“ (海野和男ã®ãƒ¯ã‚¯ãƒ¯ã‚¯è™«å›³é‘‘):
Only the first eleven pages of this book are about cicadas, but they are excellent, featuring large photos of common cicadas. The book features two pages that match nymph exoskeletons to adult cicadas.
セミã®ä¸€ç”Ÿ (科å¦ã®ã‚¢ãƒ«ãƒãƒ ):
This book also features many large photos of cicadas throughout their life cycle. The photos of eggs and first instar nymphs are particularly nice.
Note that these books are not written in English.
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Websites about the cicadas of Japan
- Cicadae in Japan An excellent resource, including a list of Japanese cicadas, dozens of photos and audio files. AUDIO PHOTOS
- Cicada stamps and sculptures from Japan and elsewhere (asahi-net.or.jp) PHOTOS
- Japanese insect pictures (mus-nh.city.osaka.jp) Many cicada photos! PHOTOS
Update: @Zi_kade on twitter (he’s a cicada expert in Japan) said that these deformities were caused by wind. Good news.
Radiation from the Fukushima reactor is possibly impacting cicadas in Japan. I say possibly, because I don’t know for sure, but the following articles infer that radiation is playing a part in cicada deformities and complications during eclosing (when they shed their nymph skins and become adults). Looks like about 20% of cicadas are affected in the study mentioned in the articles. It will be interesting to see how this story plays out. If the affected cicadas were in areas that flooded during the tsunami, it could be their bodies were damaged by water soaking the ground or flooding their tunnels.
Breaking News: Radiation has started attacking DNA.
Photos of possibly affected cicadas:
奇形ゼミ続出ã€æ”¾å°„性物質ã¯åŽŸç™ºã‹ã‚‰ï¼“ï¼ï¼km地点ã«ã¾ã§å¤§é‡é™ä¸‹ã—ãŸ.
奇形ゼミ続出ã€æ”¾å°„性物質ã¯åŽŸç™ºã‹ã‚‰ï¼“ï¼ï¼km地点ã«ã¾ã§å¤§é‡é™ä¸‹ã—ãŸ.
Use Google Translate http://translate.google.com/ if you can’t read Japanese.
It’s too early to say, but The Cicadidae of Japan might end up being the cicada book of the year. The book was authored by Dr. M. Haysashi and Dr. Yasumasa Saisho (of the incredible Cicadidae of Japan website), and it includes photos and a CD of cicada song.
The book is currently available from Amazon.co.jp.
Information from Dr. Yasumasa Saisho:
Hello. I inform you that “The Cicadidae of Japan” by Dr. M.Hayashi and
myself is published. This book consists of taxonomic exposition, ecological
information, distribution, acoustic attribute of calling songs,
morphological features of Japanese cicadidae with many photos and CD
(including all songs of Japanese species, about 70min).———-
M. Hayashi and Y. Saisho (2011). The Cicadidae of Japan,
224 pp., Seibundo-shinkosha, Tokyo.
ISBN978-4-416-81114-6
4,600yen
I re-scanned some old (10+ years old) photos from Osamu Hikino.
Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata:
Platypleura kaempferi (Fabricius, 1794):
Amazing camouflage!
A male Tanna japonensis:
A male Auritibicen japonicus:
A male Auritibicen japonicus:
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Semi-Ningen
Meet Semi-Ningen, star of the Japanese monster movie Ultra Q Episode 16 “The Revenge of Garamon”. He’s part Cicada, part human, and all scary.
Shake on it?, originally uploaded by RedYoda.
Semi Ningen (Cicada-Human) is dispatched to earth, disguised as a human man, by his evil alien Cicada brethren and tasked with controlling (2) Garamon to create all kinds of general havoc in Tokyo.
I don’t know what species this is, but the photo was take in Japan.
Semi means cicada in Japanese.
Turns out to be a Oncotympana Maculaticollis.
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Assorted Cicada Stuff
A quick break in the Brood XIII action:
A website about Japanese cicadas (Semi). It’s interesting to see all the different varieties of cicadas that exist around the world.
Many, many photos of Japanese cicadas thanks to Google photo search.