Category: U.S.A.

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Audio, Sounds, Songs Cicadettana Cicadettini U.S.A. William T. Davis

Cicadettana kansa (Davis, 1919)

Cicadettana kansa (Davis, 1919).

Song type: Call


Source: ©Insect Singers | Species: C. kansa

Name, Location and Description

Classification:

Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadettinae
Tribe: Cicadettini
Subtribe: Cicadettina
Genus: Cicadetta
Species: Cicadetta kansa (Davis, 1919)

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.

Notes:

  • Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
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Audio, Sounds, Songs Cicadettana Cicadettini U.S.A. William T. Davis

Cicadettana camerona (Davis, 1920)

Cicadettana camerona (Davis, 1920).

Song type: Call


Source: ©Insect Singers | Species: C. camerona

Name, Location and Description

Classification:

Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cicadettini
Subtribe: Cicadettina
Genus: Cicadetta
Species: Cicadettana camerona (Davis, 1920)

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.

Notes:

  • Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Categories
Audio, Sounds, Songs Beameria Fidicinini U.S.A. William T. Davis

Beameria wheeleri Davis, 1934

Song type: Call

Source: ©Insect Singers | Species: B. wheeleri

Name, Location and Description

Classification:

Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Fidicinini
Subtribe: Guyalnina
Genus: Beameria
Species: Beameria wheeleri Davis, 1934

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.

Notes:

  • Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Categories
Audio, Sounds, Songs Beameria Fidicinini Philip Reese Uhler U.S.A.

Beameria venosa (Uhler, 1888) aka Aridland Cicada

Song type: Call


Source: ©Insect Singers | Species: B. venosa

Name, Location and Description

Classification:

Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Fidicinini
Subtribe: Guyalnina
Genus: Beameria
Species: Beameria venosa (Uhler, 1888)

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.

Notes:

  • Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Categories
Magicicada Periodical U.S.A. Video

Time to start looking for signs of periodical cicadas

Depending on where you live, it might be warm enough for periodical cicadas to start moving around underground, or start digging tunnels to the surface and building cicada “chimneys” above their holes.

What to look for:

1) Animals can hear the cicadas stirring underground, and will try to dig them up and eat them. Look for holes (about the size of a walnut or larger) made by animals digging for cicadas.

Brood II; Cicada Holes

2) Look for cicadas under stones and slates. Some cicadas will burrow their way to the surface, but they hit a large stone or slate and can go no further.

If you find them in this situation, gently put the stone or slate back. They will usually find their way around the obstruction once the time is right.

One clue that a Magicicada nymph is not ready to emerge is its eyes are still white. Their eyes turn red/orange before emerging (a few retain a white/blue color).

3) Cicada holes are about the size of a dime. Cicadas preemptively dig holes to the surface and wait until the weather is nice enough for them to emerge. Sometimes you can see them down in the holes.

Magicicada holes
Magicicada holes

4) Cicadas form chimneys above their holes when the soil is moist or muddy. These chimneys might look like a simple golf ball-sized dome or a structure over six inches tall.


Photo by Roy Troutman.

Brood II 2013 - Dan Mozgai - Cicada Chimneys

Periodical cicadas typically won’t emerge until their body temperature reaches approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit (17-19.5 Celsius1). Their bodies are warmed by surrounding soil or warm water from rain. A good rule of thumb is, if the soil 8 inches(20 cm) deep is 65°F, the conditions are good that they might emerge.

And here’s how to tell if a nymph is ready to molt:

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

1Heath, J.E. 1968. Thermal synchronization of emergence in periodical “17-year” cicadas (Homoptera. Cicadidae, Magicicada). American Midland Naturalist 80:440—448.

Categories
John Cooley Magicicada Periodical U.S.A.

Visualizing all periodical cicada broods

Isn’t this a lovely picture (updated with colors sorted)?

All Broods

This image represents the combined range of all Magicicada periodical cicada broods, including the extinct Broods XI (last recorded in Connecticut) and XXI (last recorded in Florida).

To produce this image, I visited John Cooley’s Cicadas @ UCONN Cicada Geospacial Data Clearinghouse and downloaded the Shapefile of Magicicada broods. Then I used the computer program QGIS to change the Shapefile to a KML file, and then I opened the file in Google Earth. Credit goes to John for pulling the data together into the Shapefile.

I manually edited the KML file to try to give each Brood a different color.

An interesting area is Fredrick County, where 5 different broods seem to exist (or have existed) at once.
Fredrick County VA

Peach = Brood I
Green = Brood II
Purple = Brood V
Cyan = Brood X
Red = Brood XIV

It’s also interesting that four of the broods are separated by four years: X, XIV, I, V.

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Canada U.S.A.

North American Cicada Websites

These sites contain information about both periodical and annual cicada species. Last updated on 11/10/2024 with links from the 1998 version of this page.

  1. Bug Guide (bugguide.net) A massive site devoted to North America insect identification, including an abundance of cicada photos and information.PHOTOS, MAGICICADA. (2024)
  2. iNaturalist (inaturalist.org). Worldwide cicada photos and sounds. PHOTOS, MAPS, AUDIO, MAGICICADA. (2024)
  3. Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) (cicadas.uconn.edu) is devoted to monitoring emergences and providing Magicicada information. AUDIO, PHOTOS MAPS, MAGICICADA. (2024)
  4. Cicadas of the Mid-Atlantic (cicadas.info) Sighting information for Magicicada and annual cicadas in the Mid-Atlantic region. Yearly cicada reports are available. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA. (2024)
  5. Insect Singers (insectsingers.com). A new site from David Marshall and Kathy Hill featuring dozens of cicada song samples from North America.AUDIO, PHOTOS, MAGICICADA (4/19/2022)
  6. Great Lakes Cicada Page (magicicada.net RIP, archive.org). Lots of Magicicada information, but sadly the site is no longer live. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA. (7/24/2021)
  7. Gordon’s Cicada Page (earthlife.net) A photo and about 10 printed pages worth of solid cicada information. PHOTOS. (5/16/2020)
  8. Gene Kritsky’s Web Site (msj.edu) Gene Kritsky is one of the worlds foremost cicada researchers. Book him for your next cicada event. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA (2020)
  9. Singing Insects of North America Cicada page (ufl.edu) A large site featuring lists of North American species and audio files. PHOTOS, AUDIO. (2019)
  10. Colorado State University Extension cicada page (colostate.edu) Includes a picture of Putnam’s cicada and a paragraph of information within 3 pages of various information about cicadas. PHOTOS. (2019)
  11. Long Island Cicadas: cicadas of Long Island, NY, plus New Jersey and Pennsylvania. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA. (7/5/2018).
  12. UF|IAFS Cicadas (of Florida) (ufl.edu). PHOTOS. (12/?/2017)
  13. Cicada Central (uconn.edu RIP, archive.org) One of the premier cicada sites. Many pictures, maps and information. Superb Magicicada information. PHOTOS, MAPS, MAGICICADA. (2015)
  14. Massachusetts Cicadas (www.masscic.org) tremendous cicada site packed with information
    and photos. Dozens of pages of information. Neotibicens, Magicicada, Cicada Killer wasps. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA. (4/9/2013)
  15. Periodical Cicada (ag.umass.edu) Many nice photos depicting the cicada’s life cycle, and good information. PHOTOS. (10/2011)
  16. Tim McNary’s Bibliography of the Cicadoidea (tmcnary.com) for many, many cicada papers and articles. MAGICICADA. (10/9/2010)
  17. Checklist of Cicadas of Kansas (windsofkansas.com RIP, archive.org) A list of species you’ll find in Kansas, references, photos and illustrations. PHOTOS, ILLUSTRATIONS. (1/10/2008)
  18. Seventeen Year Cicada (seventeenyearcicada.com) Dozens of Magicicada photos and info. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA (12/2007)
  19. Apache cicada, Diceroprocta apache (fireflyforest.net) A photo and 3 paragraphs of information. PHOTOS. (7/2/2005)
  20. Annual Cicadas of Arkansas (angelfire.com) Photos and information about Neotibicen robinsonianus (formerly T. robinsoniana), Megatibicen dorsatus (formerly T. dorsata), Neotibicen pruinosus (formerly T. pruinosa), Neotibicen lyricen, Neotibicen davisi, Megatibicen auletes, & Neotibicen aurifera. PHOTOS. (6/13/2004)
  21. The University of Michigan Cicada Pages (umich.edu RIP, archive.org) Magicicada, Tibicen, Okanagana, and Diceroprocta info. The owners of this site now contribute to Cicadas @ UCONN and Insect Singers. PHOTOS, AUDIO, MAPS. (7/26/2000).
  22. Periodical Cicadas (biology.clc.uc.edu RIP, archive.org) A fun and informative Magicicada page with many excellent photos, recipes and 19 paragraphs of information. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA. (5/11/2000)
  23. Homoptera: cicadas, hoppers, & aphids (insectsexplained.com) Information about the Homoptera order, photos and illustrations. PHOTOS, ILLUSTRATIONS. (2000)
  24. Katherine Klein The Cicada watercolor, 24″ x 18″ (art.net). ILLUSTRATIONS. (1999).
  25. Cicadas Genera Magicicada – Tibicen (desertusa.com). PHOTOS. (1999).
  26. Periodical Cicadas in Iowa, Again (iastate.edu). MAGICICADA. (1998).
  27. Guide d’identification d’insectes du Quebec (lesinsectesduquebec.com) En Francais. Canicularis and Okanagana rimosa info and photos. PHOTOS, AUDIO. (1998?)
  28. Cicadas are Laying Eggs and Preparing to Go (iastate.edu). MAGICICADA. (1997).
  29. Periodical Cicada Emergence in Iowa in 1997 (iastate.edu). MAGICICADA. (1997).
  30. Insect Images (insectimages.org) About 150 North American cicada photos, including Magicicada, Tibicen, Okanagana, and Cacama. PHOTOS, MAGICICADA
  31. Cicada Videos and Sounds Alarm Squawks and Mating Calls is also very helpful for identifying cicada sounds.
  32. Selected North American cicada species has about 20 song samples too.
Categories
Canada Tibicen U.S.A. Video

August is a great time to look for Tibicen cicadas in North America

Now is a great time to look and listen for Tibicen cicadas in North America. Tibicen are the medium to large sized annual cicadas. Typically they are well camouflaged – with colors like black, white, green & brown.

During the day you can listen for them, of course, and spot them that way. Try Insect Singers for cicada songs. You can also look for their exuvia (skins), and if you’re lucky you can catch on on a low branch.

Last night I started looking around 10pm and found three Swamp Cicadas (T. tibicen tibicen) shedding their skins on trees around the yard. I also collected about 30 exuvia (skins). All in a quarter acre yard. Take a look at this video:

Swamp Cicada shedding its nymphal skin from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.

Swamp Cicada

Teneral Swamp Cicada

Categories
Allen F. Sanborn Books Cacama Canada Cicadettana Diceroprocta Magicicada Okanagana Okanagodes Platypedia Polly K. Phillips Tibicen U.S.A.

Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico

Download the PDF here: www.cicadamania.com/downloads/diversity-05-00166.pdf.

We are excited to announce the availability of a document by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips titled Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico. This document features distribution maps for North American cicada species! This document is an excellent companion to The Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) of North America North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Maxine S. Heath (link to that book).

Abstract: We describe and illustrate the biogeography of the cicadas inhabiting continental North America, north of Mexico. Species distributions were determined through our collecting efforts as well as label data from more than 110 institutional collections. The status of subspecies is discussed with respect to their distributions. As we have shown over limited geographic areas, the distribution of individual species is related to the habitat in which they are found. We discuss the biogeography of the genera with respect to their phylogenetic relationships. California is the state with the greatest alpha diversity (89 species, 46.6% of taxa) and unique species (35 species, 18.3% of taxa). Texas, Arizona, Colorado and Utah are the states with the next greatest alpha diversity with Texas, Arizona and Utah being next for unique species diversity. Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island are the states with the least amount of cicada diversity. Diversity is greatest in states and areas where there is a diversity of plant communities and habitats within these communities. Mountainous terrain also coincides with increases in diversity. Several regions of the focus area require additional collection efforts to fill in the distributions of several species.
Keywords: cicada; distribution; Diceroprocta; Tibicen; Okanagana; Okanagodes; Cacama; Magicicada; Platypedia; Cicadetta

An example of a map from the document:

Example Map

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Edward Johnson Hemisciera U.S.A. William T. Davis

A day at the Staten Island Museum

I spent most of the day at the Staten Island Museum. The Staten Island Museum has North America’s largest collection of cicadas — over 35,000 specimens!!! Most, if not all the specimens came from William T. Davis’ personal collection. Davis was a naturalist and entomologist located in Staten Island, NY, who was active in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Read more about the collection.

The museum is currently working on a huge cicada exhibit and many cicada events throughout the year. The They’re Baaack! Return of the 17-year Cicada Family Day event will happen in a few weeks.

Here’s a few shots of the museum and the collection I took with my camera phone:

Part of their giant Wall of Insects:

Wall of Insects

Number 39 in that photo is Hemisciera maculipennis, aka the “stop and go cicada”. When alive the cicada’s coloring is green and red, like a traffic signal. Here is a photo of a live H. maculipennis.

Tibicen and Cicada Killer Wasps:

Tibicen and cicada killer wasps

Tacua speciosa detail:

Tacua speciosa

A giant light-up cicada outside the museum:

Light up cicada Staten Island

Just part of the Staten Island Museum’s cicada collection

stacks of cicadas

Thanks to Ed Johnson, Director of Science, for showing me many of amazing specimens in the museum’s collection.

Bonus: You can download a copy of William T. Davis’ document North American Cicadas. It’s free!