The Lesser Antilles Cicada aka Chalumalna martinesis is a cicada found in the Lesser Antilles islands, for certain in Saint Martin (see sightings on iNaturalist).
Cicada researcher Allen Sanbornhas a new paper titled Redescription, illustration and higher taxonomy of the Lesser Antilles cicada Chalumalna martinesis Boulard, 2001 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettinae).
This paper is of particular interest as it places Chalumalna martinesis this cicada in the Trible Lamotialnini, which is the same Trible as Magicicada periodical cicadas found un the U.S.
From the Abstract:
The genus Chalumalna is reassigned to Lamotialnini Boulard, 1976 based on the presence of conjunctival claws on the aedeagus and the lack of a developed uncus. Brevialavenosa Sanborn, 2021 and Chrysolasia Moulds, 2003 are shown to be members of Lamotialnini as well, expanding the tribal distribution to include the Caribbean, South and Central America.
The Forecast for 2025 is Brood XIV will emerge in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
We will also get some stragglers from Brood I in Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Facts: Over the next 10 years, there’s a 90% chance at least one Magicicada brood will emerge somewhere in the U.S.A. Across time, that percentage falls to 77%. Next year (2026) no Broods will emerge. The next 3 year gap (max gap) is 2043-2045.
Magicicada Brood Chart
The Brood Chart features the names of the broods (Roman numerals), emergence years, cycle-length, straggler-years, species and states where they may emerge.
Emergences: 2031, 2014, 1997, 1980, 1963.
Cycle: 17-Year.
Stragglers: 2027 (-4), 2030 (-1)
Species: M. septendecim, M. cassini, M. septendecula.
States: IA, IL, MO
Emergences: 2036, 2019, 2002, 1985, 1968.
Cycle: 17-Year.
Stragglers: 2032(-4), 2035(-1)
Species: M. septendecim, M. cassini, M. septendecula.
States: OH, PA, WV and OK
Emergences: 2038, 2021, 2004, 1987, 1970.
Cycle: 17-Year.
Stragglers: 2034(-4), 2037(-1)
Species: M. septendecim, M. cassini, M. septendecula.
States: DE, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, Washington
Emergences: 2041, 2024, 2007, 1990, 1973.
Cycle: 17-Year.
Stragglers: 2025(+1)
Species: M. septendecim, M. cassini, M. septendecula.
States: IA, IL, IN, MI, WI
Emergences: 2028, 2015, 2002, 1989, 1976.
Cycle: 13-Year.
Stragglers: 2027(-1), 2032(+4)
Species: M. tredecim, M. neotredecim, M. tredecassini, M. tredecula.
States: AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, TN
What specific day will they emerge?
Generally speaking, these cicadas will begin to emerge when the soil 8″ beneath the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit (Heath, 1968). A nice, warm rain will often trigger an emergence. They can emerge anytime from early April to early June. It all depends on the weather.
What should you look for before they emerge?
Chimneys / Turrets
Look for cicada chimneys a.k.a. turrets. These are structures cicadas build out of the soil, positioned above the hole where they will emerge.
Holes
Look for holes in the diameter of an adult’s finger near the root system of a tree. These are sure signs that cicadas will emerge in the area.
Cicadas Under Stones & Slates
You might discover some cicada nymphs while turning over stones or when performing landscaping chores.
This is a recently emerged nymph crawling up a tree. Note that its eyes are red.
Once cicadas nymphs have emerged from the ground, they will try to find a tree (or similar vertical surface), and then begin the process of shedding their old nymph skins (ecdysis), expanding their wings, and changing to their adult coloring. Watch this amazing transformation.
How to tell the difference between the seven Magicicada species:
Left to right: Magicicada cassini, Magicicada septendecula, Magicicada septendecim:
The first way is based on the Brood. Take a look at the Brood chart above, and see which species appear with the Brood.
There are 3 basic types of Magicicada: “‘Decims”, “‘Cassini” and “‘Deculas”.
Magicicada neotredecim Marshall and Cooley 2000. 13-year life cycle. Broods: XIX, XXIII.
Magicicada tredecim (Walsh and Riley, 1868). 13-year life cycle. Brood: XIX, XXII, XXIII.
Their songs are very similar, however, when M. neotredecim & M. tredecim emerge in the same location, M. neotredecim’s song takes a higher pitch. Sounds like “Pharaoh, Pharaoh!”.
Visual Appearance:
Male on left; Female on right.
M. neotredecim & M. septendecim have broad orange stripes with more orange than black on their abdomens.
M. tredecim, by comparison, have almost entirely orange abdomens.
M. septendecim cicadas also have an area of orange coloring between the eye and the wing (pronotal extension).
“Cassini” aka Dwarf Cicadas
There are two species in this category:
Magicicada cassini (Fisher, 1851). 17-year life cycle. Broods: I-V, VIII-X, XIII, XIV.
Magicicada tredecassini Alexander and Moore, 1962. 13-year life cycle. Broods: XIX, XXII, XXII.
Their songs are essentially identical:
M. cassini Call and Court:
Note how it makes a quick burst of sound, followed by some rapid clicks.
Visual Appearance:
Female on left; Male on right.
M. tredecassin & M. cassini cicadas have black abdomens with virtually no orange at all. Orange stripes are possible in the mid-west (important to note for Brood IV).
“Decula”
There are two species in this category:
Magicicada septendecula Alexander and Moore, 1962. 17-year life cycle. Broods: I-VI, VIII-X, XIII, XIV.
Magicicada tredecula Alexander and Moore, 1962. 13-year life cycle. Broods: XIX, XXII, XXIII.
Their songs are essentially identical:
M. tredecula Call:
Note the “tick, tick, tick” rhythm of the call.
Visual Appearance:
Female on left; Male on right.
M. septendecula & M. tredecula have stripes that feature more black than orange. Otherwise, they’re very similar to M. cassini.
How to figure out if they’re coming to your town?
Verify that they’re coming to your state. Check the Magicicada Brood Chart on this page.
Check Cicada Brood Maps linked from this page to see if they’re coming to your general area.
Check to see if they’re coming to your neighborhood. Good sources include:
Ask someone who lived there 17 (or 13) years before.
Old timers (hint: old timers usually call them locusts).
Check your local Library for old newspaper articles.
Check with a local college: contact the entomology, forestry, or agriculture-related departments.
Your local national, state, county, and town parks department (parks and rec). Some county parks departments plan events around cicada emergences.
When will they emerge?
They will emerge sometime in the Spring, for sure.
They typically emerge once the soil 8 inches (20 cm) below the surface gets to 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celcius). At that temperature, they will start digging their tunnels to the surface. After a couple of days with above-ground temperatures near the 80’s F, and after a good rain, they will emerge. Read this paper for more info: Thermal Synchronization of Emergence in Periodical “17-year” Cicadas (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada) by James Edward Heath, American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 80, No. 2. (Oct. 1968), pp. 440-448.
Cicadas in sunny areas of your yard will emerge before cicadas in shady areas.
Cicadas in the southernmost states will emerge before cicadas in the northern states.
Question: Why do I have cicadas in my neighborhood, but your chart indicates that I shouldn’t?
Answer: Some possibilities: 1) they are stragglers, periodical cicadas that emerge too soon or late, 2) they are not periodical cicadas but are a different North American species, 3) you live on a continent other than North America, in which case, try one of these pages, or 4) SURPRISE! The U.S. is a big place and some cicada populations have yet to be documented.
Question: Why don’t I have periodical cicadas in my area, but the information on your website indicates that I should?
Answer: Two possibilities: 1) they went extinct or otherwise died off in your area, or 2) they aren’t everywhere in a state – normally there are large gaps in their range.
Question: What are stragglers?
Answer:Stragglers can emerge 1 or 4 years early or 1 or 4 years late. Don’t be surprised if you see some periodical cicadas emerge earlier than planned this year. 17-year brood members are most likely to straggle 4 years early, and 13-year brood members are most likely to straggle 4 years late. Straggler probability chart.
Question: Are there other types of Periodical cicadas?
Answer: There are two known species of periodical cicadas that are not Magicicada . One lives in India and the other in Fiji.
Question: Why are there no Brood XI, XII, XV, or XVI?
Answer: Perhaps you’ve noticed there are no Broods XI (11), XII (12), XV (15), XVI (16), XVII (17), XVIII (18), XX (20), XXI (21), XXIV (24), etc. Don’t worry about that. They never existed or are extinct (XI, XXI).
Example Emergence Timeline
This is an example of a typical cicada emergence. The exact dates will depend on the weather and density of the emergence in your location. Hot weather means an early start and quicker finish to the season — cool weather means a later start and a protracted season.
Smaller than M. neotredecim & M. tredecim. Orange stripes on its abdomen, through not as much as M. neotredecim & M. tredecim. Its chorus sounds like a ticking clock. Very similar to the 17-year M. septendecula.
Video Playlist
Playlists contain multiple videos found on YouTube.
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Its abdomen is black. Its chorus sounds like hissing static. It is smaller than M. neotredecim and M. tredecim. It is very similar to the 17-year M. cassinii species.
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Playlists contain multiple videos found on YouTube.
Identification Tips
Thick orange stripes on the abdomen. Orange between the eye and wing insertion. In the few areas it overlaps with M. tredecim, M. neotredecim sings with a higher pitch. Read more on Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org). It is similar to the 17-year species M. septendecim.
Brood Chart
Magicicada neotredecim has a 13-year life cycle.
Brood XIX (19)
XIX (19)
Years: 1972, 1985, 1998, 2011, 2024
Locations: AR, IL, IN, KS, KY, MO, OK
XXIII (23)
XXIII (23)
Years: 1976, 1989, 2002, 2015, 2028
Locations: AR, IL, IN, KY, MO
Name, Location and Description
Cicada Name: Magicicada neotredecim Marshall and Cooley, 2000
Short Name: M. neotredecim
Common Name: 13 Periodical Cicada or 13-Year Cicada
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Playlists contain multiple videos found on YouTube.
Identification Tips
M. septendecula is smaller than M. septedecim, and about the same size as M. cassisii. It typically has small (small compared to M. septedecim) orange stripes on its abdomen. It lacks the orange color between the eye and wing insertion point that M. septendecim has. Its chorus sounds like a ticking clock.
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Playlists contain multiple videos found on YouTube.
Identification Tips
M. septendecim is the largest of the 17-Year species. Its abdomen has thick orange stripes. It has orange coloring between its eye and wing. Its song sounds like “Wee-Oh”, “Pharaoh” and a group of them are said to sound like a “UFO from a science fiction movie”.
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Update (4/10/2022) David C. Marshall published a paper arguing for the use of the name Magicicada cassini (one i): Marshall, David C. On the spelling of the name of Cassin’s 17-Year Cicada, Magicicada cassini (Fisher, 1852) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). 2022. Zootaxa 5125 (2): 241–245. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5125.2.8
Playlists contain multiple videos found on YouTube.
Identification Tips
M. cassinii differs from other Magicicada in that its abdomen is typically all black, with no orange. Exceptions occur in the mid-west, the occasional mosaic pigment mutation. It also lacks the orange coloring between the eye and wing that M. septendecim has. Its chorus sounds like hissing static.
Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Notes:
Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Note from David Marshall in the comments: “This genus has been moved to the tribe Lamotialnini (see Marshall et al. 2018). Interestingly, that makes it the closest known relative of Magicicada in the Americas.”
The image says Tibicen guatemalenus, but its newest name is Chrysolasia guatemalena.
Species description by W. L. Distant:
Obscure castaneous, somewhat thickly covered with ochraceous pilosity. Area of the ocelli, a central fascia to pronotum (which is ampliated and produced on each side at anterior and posterior margins), some obscure and irregular spots on mesonotum with cruciform elevation at base, and abdomen above fuscous. Body beneath much paler and very densely pilose; head, sternum, and opercula ashy grey; abdomen pale ochraceous. Tegmina pale hyaline; costal membrane, basal area, and claval base pale castaneous; veins pale fuscous. Wings pale hyaline ; veins and suffusion at abdominal area pale fuscous.
Head, including outer margin of eyes, broader than pronotum; face with a broad central longitudinal sulcation and somewhat faintly transversely striate; rostrum not quite reaching posterior coxae; opercula reaching base of second abdominal segment, narrowest at base, with the outer margins truncate, widened and rounded posteriorly, but not quite meeting inwardly.
Long. 20 millim., exp. tegm. 57 millim.
References:
The illustration, location and description comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
