May 9, 2024

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:

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January 1, 2021

The Philacicada Society

The Philacicada Society existed for a brief time (to my knowledge) in the 1990s. There was at least one mail (NOT email) newsletter (I’ll eventually photocopy it).

The information here is over 20 years old — don’t try to join. 🙂

Here’s the original information:

I’m excited to announce the formation of the Philacicada Society. Cicada maniacs, please read on! (Special thanks to Dr. Ivan Huber and Charles Remington.)

“The huge scientific and public enthusiasm for Magicicada Brood II this year included some queries about a simple organization (and newsletter) devoted toMagicicada and perhaps other cicadas (around 4,000 species are known worldwide).In response, I agreed to do some initial organizational work, and Professor IvanHuber, of Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, volunteered to edit a cicada newsletter.”

“You are hereby invited to become a charter member of this relatively informal society. You will join by sending to Treasurer Kritsky $5.00 as dues, to cover any minimal expenses.”

“The Newsletter would be perhaps quarterly and would contain anything appropriate, certainly including:”

suggestions for observations and experiments

brief reports of interesting findings (full scientific papers to be published of course in the usual formal journals)

suggestions and plans for producing greatly needed book(s) on cicadas for the respected “intelligent layman”, including children, and for the entomological world (maybe a rush Magicicada Manual with a few different specialists doing different chapters); Gene Kritsky, Tom Moore, and Monte Lloydhave books moving toward publication; Magicicadais arguably the most biologically remarkable insect (even animal or organism?) in the world; the superb new Williams & Simon review is a basic reference and bibliography

requests for research help — livestock, etc.

planning for observing forthcoming hatches– Brood III, IV, etc.

“To emphasize a serious commitment to the Society and to organize mutual input, there is a need for informal charter officers and directors. I took the liberty of asking leading Magicicada workers to serve on such a Board, and they agreed. Sucha Board is as follows:

Chairman: Chris Simon
Treasurer: Gene R. Kritsky
Editor: Ivan Huber

Directors:
James & Maxine Health
Edward Johnson
Richard Karban
Monte Lloyd
Chris T. Maier
Thomas E. Moore
Charles L. Remington
Allen F. Sanborn
Kimberly G. Smith
Kathy S. Williams

In the future, more formality may be wanted in choosing officers and directors, including some cicada workers outside the U.S.A.

Please send Gene Kritsky names and addresses of possible members, to be circularized.

Cordially,
Charles Remington

Here is the form for joining the society. Print it out and mail it in.

old Philacicada society form

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July 31, 2018

New paper: The periodical cicada four-year acceleration hypothesis revisited and the polyphyletic nature of Brood V

A new paper about periodical cicadas! View it: https://peerj.com/articles/5282/

“The periodical cicada four-year acceleration hypothesis revisited and the polyphyletic nature of Brood V, including an updated crowd-source enhanced map (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada)”

Authors: John R. Cooley, Nidia Arguedas, Elias Bonaros, Gerry Bunker, Stephen M. Chiswell, Annette DeGiovine, Marten Edwards, Diane Hassanieh, Diler Haji, John Knox, Gene Kritsky, Carolyn Mills, Dan Mozgai, Roy Troutman, John Zyla, Hiroki Hasegawa, Teiji Sota, Jin Yoshimura, and Chris Simon.

Abstract:

The periodical cicadas of North America (Magicicada spp.) are well-known for their long life cycles of 13 and 17 years and their mass synchronized emergences. Although periodical cicada life cycles are relatively strict, the biogeographic patterns of periodical cicada broods, or year-classes, indicate that they must undergo some degree of life cycle switching. We present a new map of periodical cicada Brood V, which emerged in 2016, and demonstrate that it consists of at least four distinct parts that span an area in the United States stretching from Ohio to Long Island. We discuss mtDNA haplotype variation in this brood in relation to other periodical cicada broods, noting that different parts of this brood appear to have different origins. We use this information to refine a hypothesis for the formation of periodical cicada broods by 1- and 4-year life cycle jumps.

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June 2, 2018

New paper on the molecular phylogeny of the cicadas and tribe and subfamily classification

A new paper has been published titled A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification by David C. Marshall, Max Moulds, Kathy B. R. Hill, Benjamin W. Price, Elizabeth J. Wade, Christopher L. Owen, Geert Goemans, Kiran Marathe, Vivek Sarkar, John R. Cooley, Allen F. Sanborn, Krushnamegh Kunte, Martin H. Villet, Chris Simon.

The paper was published in Vol 4424, No 1 of Zootaxa. Link to paper.

In a nutshell: These researchers compared the DNA of a variety of cicadas to determine how they are related evolutionarily and how they should be organized in terms of tribes and sub-families.

Abstract:

A molecular phylogeny and a review of family-group classification are presented for 137 species (ca. 125 genera) of the insect family Cicadidae, the true cicadas, plus two species of hairy cicadas (Tettigarctidae) and two outgroup species from Cercopidae. Five genes, two of them mitochondrial, comprise the 4992 base-pair molecular dataset. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic results are shown, including analyses to address potential base composition bias. Tettigarcta is confirmed as the sister-clade of the Cicadidae and support is found for three subfamilies identified in an earlier morpho- logical cladistic analysis. A set of paraphyletic deep-level clades formed by African genera are together named as Tettigo- myiinae n. stat. Taxonomic reassignments of genera and tribes are made where morphological examination confirms incorrect placements suggested by the molecular tree, and 11 new tribes are defined (Arenopsaltriini n. tribe, Durangonini n. tribe, Katoini n. tribe, Lacetasini n. tribe, Macrotristriini n. tribe, Malagasiini n. tribe, Nelcyndanini n. tribe, Pagi- phorini n. tribe, Pictilini n. tribe, Psaltodini n. tribe, and Selymbriini n. tribe). Tribe Tacuini n. syn. is synonymized with Cryptotympanini, and Tryellina n. syn. is synonymized with an expanded Tribe Lamotialnini. Tribe Hyantiini n. syn. is synonymized with Fidicinini. Tribe Sinosenini is transferred to Cicadinae from Cicadettinae, Cicadatrini is moved to Ci- cadettinae from Cicadinae, and Ydiellini and Tettigomyiini are transferred to Tettigomyiinae n. stat from Cicadettinae. While the subfamily Cicadinae, historically defined by the presence of timbal covers, is weakly supported in the molecular tree, high taxonomic rank is not supported for several earlier clades based on unique morphology associated with sound production.

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January 6, 2018

New paper about Brood XXII Magicicadas

There is a new paper out about Brood XXII, titled Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada). I helped with the field work for this paper, traveling through Ohio and Kentucky with Roy Troutman, recording the locations of periodical cicadas.

Brood XXII, a brood of Magicicada periodical cicadas with a 13-year lifecycle, exists in Louisiana & Mississippi, and Ohio & Kentucky with no geographic connection between them (the two groups are geographically isolated). The paper discusses the similarities and differences between the two groups.

You can read and download the paper for free.

Citation for the paper:
Gene Kritsky, Roy Troutman, Dan Mozgai, Chris Simon, Stephen M Chiswell, Satoshi Kakishima, Teiji Sota, Jin Yoshimura, John R Cooley; Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada), American Entomologist, Volume 63, Issue 4, 12 December 2017, Pages E15—E20, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmx066

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November 5, 2017

A new paper about Kikihia hybridization

Filed under: Chris Simon | Kikihia | New Zealand | Papers and Documents — Dan @ 10:59 am

There’s a new paper from Sarah E. Banker, Elizabeth J. Wade, and Chris Simon titled “The confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic estimation in the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia”.

Here are the highlights:

Tested validity of an unexpected “Westlandica” mitochondrial clade with nuclear loci.
Phylogenetic signal and pattern differ dramatically among nuclear genes but always weak on South Island.
No conflict between nuclear concatenation vs species trees from multiple methods.
Three nuclear species trees support major North Island but not South Island mitochondrial clades.

Here’s the citation information:

Sarah E. Banker, Elizabeth J. Wade, Chris Simon, The confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic estimation in the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 116, November 2017, Pages 172-181, ISSN 1055-7903, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.08.009.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790317302348)

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May 7, 2016

Magicicada Media Faux Pas

Filed under: Chris Simon | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 7:38 am

cicada invasion

The media (news papers, bloggers, etc.) sometimes use terms to describe cicadas, and periodical cicada emergences, that range from simply incorrect to grossly hyperbolic. It is unclear if they do this to match reader expectations, to get more clicks, to write a more entertaining article, or simply because they don’t have all the facts. It bothers me when the media uses a photo or video of the wrong species, which is why I have the use the correct image page.

What media mistakes have you witnessed? Let us know in the comments.

Professor Chris Simon, of the University of Connecticut Simon Lab, is one of the premier cicada experts in the world. She provided us with her list of Magicicada Media Faux Pas (below). How many of these have you seen? Can you think of more?

Incorrect Descriptive Words

“swarm” They don’t swarm—i.e. fly around in large groups.
“invasion” They don’t invade. They have been there the whole time.
“plague”
They are not a plague like grasshoppers that come in and eat everything–they don’t chew leaves. They suck.
“overrun” Implies that they are imposing us when in fact we are much more of an imposition on them–clearing their trees and building Walmarts on top of them.

Here are some more funny ones…

“lurking underground” They are not lurking or threatening, they are innocently feeding on tree roots.
“hatching out of the ground” They don’t hatch out of the ground, they hatched from eggs in tree branches 17years ago.

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July 10, 2015

Major Changes to the Tibicen genera

Sometimes you wake up and the whole world is different. See this cicada:

Teneral Neotibicen tibicen
photo by me.

… when I went to sleep she was a Tibicen tibicen tibicen, but now I know she is a Neotibicen tibicen tibicen. 10 years ago, she was a Tibicen chloromera. 130 years ago, she was Cicada tibicen. Cicada names change as researchers discover their differences.

Two new papers have split the Tibicen (or Lyristes) genera into many genera: Tibicen (European Tibicen), Auritibicen (Tibicen of Asia/Japan), Neotibicen (mostly eastern North American Tibicen), and Hadoa (Tibicen of the western United States).

The first paper is Description of a new genus, Auritibicen gen. nov., of Cryptotympanini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with redescriptions of Auritibicen pekinensis (Haupt, 1924) comb. nov. and Auritibicen slocumi (Chen, 1943) comb. nov. from China and a key to the species of Auritibicen by Young June Lee, 2015, Zootaxa 3980 (2): 241—254. This paper establishes the new genera Auritibicen, and the members of the Tibicen/Lyristes genera fall into that genera. Here is a link. So, Tibicen flammatus aka Lyristes flammatus of Japan, for example, becomes Auritibicen flammatus.

A. flammatus
Auritibicen flammatus photo by Osamu Hikino.

The second paper is Molecular phylogenetics, diversification, and systematics of Tibicen Latreille 1825 and allied cicadas of the tribe Cryptotympanini, with three new genera and emphasis on species from the USA and Canada (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadidae) by Kathy B. R. Hill, David C. Marshall, Maxwell S. Moulds & Chris Simon. 2015, Zootaxa 3985 (2): 219—251. This paper establishes the Neotibicen (Hill and Moulds), and Hadoa (Moulds) genera. This paper also sought to establish the Subsolanus genera for the Asian Tibicen/Lyristes species but the previously mentioned paper by Young June Lee has precedence because it was published first. Link to paper.

To recap, European Tibicen/Lyristes are Tibicen…

Lyristes plebejus photo by Iván Jesús Torresano García
Tibicen plebejus photo by Iván Jesus Torresano García.

… Asian Tibicen/Lyristes are now Auritibicen. Mostly-eastern North American Tibicen are now Neotibicen, and Western North American Tibicen are now Hadoa. Note that, the catagorization is not due to location, but to genetic and physiological evaluation (read the papers).

Needless to say this website and others have a lot of name changing to do, but in the mean time, here’s where the North American species fall out:

Neotibicen
Tibicen auletes	Neotibicen auletes
Tibicen auriferus	Neotibicen auriferus
Tibicen canicularis	Neotibicen canicularis
Tibicen cultriformis	Neotibicen cultriformis
Tibicen davisi davisi	Neotibicen davisi davisi
Tibicen davisi harnedi	Neotibicen davisi harnedi
Tibicen dealbatus	Neotibicen dealbatus
Tibicen dorsatus	Neotibicen dorsatus
Tibicen figuratus	Neotibicen figuratus
Tibicen latifasciatus	Neotibicen latifasciatus
Tibicen linnei	Neotibicen linnei
Tibicen lyricen engelhardti	Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti
Tibicen lyricen lyricen	Neotibicen lyricen lyricen
Tibicen lyricen virescens	Neotibicen lyricen virescens
Tibicen pronotalis pronotalis	Neotibicen pronotalis pronotalis
Tibicen pronotalis walkeri	Neotibicen pronotalis walkeri
Tibicen pruinosus fulvus	Neotibicen pruinosus fulvus
Tibicen pruinosus pruinosus	Neotibicen pruinosus pruinosus
Tibicen resh	Neotibicen resh
Tibicen resonans	Neotibicen resonans
Tibicen robinsonianus	Neotibicen robinsonianus
Tibicen similaris	Neotibicen similaris
Tibicen superbus	Neotibicen superbus
Tibicen tibicen australis	Neotibicen tibicen australis
Tibicen tibicen tibicen	Neotibicen tibicen tibicen
Tibicen tremulus	Neotibicen tremulus
Tibicen winnemanna	Neotibicen winnemanna
Hadoa
Tibicen bifidus	Hadoa bifida
Tibicen chiricahua	Hadoa chiricahua
Tibicen duryi	Hadoa duryi
Tibicen inauditus	Hadoa inaudita
Tibicen longioperculus	Hadoa longiopercula
Tibicen neomexicensis	Hadoa neomexicensis
Tibicen parallelus	Hadoa parallela
Tibicen simplex	Hadoa simplex
Tibicen texanus	Hadoa texana
Tibicen townsendii	Hadoa townsendii

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June 8, 2013

More crowd sourcing opportunities for cicada community scientists

Filed under: Chris Simon | Citizen Science | Magicicada | Periodical | Periodical Stragglers — Dan @ 12:33 pm

I created a category for community scientist crowd sourcing projects. These are projects for you, the people, who want to help cicada researchers & scientists study cicadas.

Here are more ways you can help cicada researchers study cicadas:

Project 1:

Chris Simon and the Simon Cicada Lab need your help with a couple of projects:

We at the Simon Lab are anxious to get the word out that we are very interested in finding upcoming Brood II locations with lots of flagging (broken branches and wilted stems that should turn brown in late June or July or sooner down south).

When cicadas lay eggs they cause some damage to tree branches called flagging. It is easy to spot the brown patches of leaves. The Simon Lab want your sightings of flagging come the end of June and July.

A form to submit your sightings will be available soon.

flagging

Project 2:

Also we need to continue to crowd source locations of spring stragglers from any brood in any year.

A straggler is a periodical cicada that emerges years in advance of the rest of its brood. Typically they emerge four years in advance. An example of this is the cicadas that emerged in Ohio this year. Please let us know if you see a periodical cicada outside the Brood II area.

You can probably use this form for that.

Next year (2014), folks in western New York state might see some stragglers from Brood VII (due 2018) for example.

This chart will give you an idea of when stragglers can be expected. The best bet is -4 years for 17 year broods, and +4 for 13 year broods.

Probability of Straggling chart from Chris Simon

I’ve added straggler probabilities to this brood chart.

Note to self: read Periodical Cicada (Homoptera: Cicadidae) Life-Cycle Variations, the Historical Emergence Record, and the Geographic Stability of Brood Distributions by David Marshall.

Future projects:

There will be at least one more major crowd sourcing project coming soon. Stay tuned!

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Cicada Hunting with Chris Simon

Filed under: Brood II | Chris Simon | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 9:13 am

Last Sunday (June 1st) I met Chris Simon and Elias Bonaros in Staten Island. Chris was in Staten Island, NY to map cicada locations, and collect some specimens. Elias and I helped her find some M. septendecim and M. cassini.

Elias Bonaros (left) Chris Simon of Uconn (middle) Dan Mozgai (right) looking for cicadas
Elias (left), Chris (middle), Dan (right).

Chris Simon leads the Simon Lab at the University of Connecticut. From her biography: “Chris Simon is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and Adjunct Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.” “Recent projects in her laboratory focus on the systematics, biogeography, evolution of cicadas worldwide, the application of information on molecular evolutionary processes to the improvement of tree-building, speciation and its relationship to past climates and landforms, evolution of periodical life cycles, the role of song in the evolution of insect species, and molecular evolution of the secondary structure of ribosomal RNA.”

A Magicicada with Pink Eyes held by Chris Simon of UConn. Brood II. 2013.
Chris Simon holding a pink eyed Magicicada.

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