Cicada Mania

Cicadas and bacteria

I saw quite a few articles this weekend about the discovery of bacteria that live within cicada cells that are they key to their long lives underground.

Here’s the Live Science article.

So how do cicadas gather the nutrients they need to survive, despite their low-nutrient diet? McCutcheon says that cicadas supplement their diet by maintaining complicated relationships with two species of specialized bacteria that live inside their cells. The bacteria produce essential nutrients for the cicadas that the animals neither receive from their sap diets nor produce themselves.

Pop Culture Tattoos

Cool Cicada Tattoo

Cicadas are cool, and tattoos can be pretty cool too. Take a took at Sandy Herder’s new cicada tattoo. Awesome.

Magicicada Pop Culture Video

I just finished watching the BBC mini-series Life in the Undergrowth staring several million invertebrates and David Attenborough. (I watched it in between the picnics, fireworks, and swimming that mostly occupies my time.) Fans of cicadas and land-dwelling invertebrates will love this show. Attenborough is the best when it comes to explaining the natural world to TV viewers.

BBC thoughtfully put the segment of the show about 17 year cicadas on YouTube.

I like the bit when he lures the male around by imitating the wing flicks of females.

You can buy it in the usual places, or rent it of course.

Neotibicen

Time for the yearly Neotibicen post

Post author By Dan
Post date July 3, 2009
No Comments on Time for the yearly Neotibicen post

The Tibicen is the genus of annual cicada most people are familiar with.

Lyric and Swamp Cicada

Here are some general details about Tibicen:

They emerge every summer. They do not emerge in broods.
They emerge in small numbers (small relative to periodical cicadas).
They are timid and elusive compared to periodical cicadas.
Most are physically larger than periodical cicadas.
They are well camouflaged: their colors and patterns of colors help to hide them in their surroundings. They look like little military vehicles, IMHO.
Colloquial names for Tibicens: August Dry Birds, Dog Day cicadas, Harvest Flies, Jar Flies, Bush Cicada (Tibicen dorsatus, formerly T. dorsata)

Swamp cicada

Some cool Tibicen posts and pages you should check out:

Cicada researcher Kathy Hill’s photo of 18 different Tibicen species.
It is possible to identify Tibicen just after they have molted: a visual tool to identify freshly molted Tibicens by Paul Krombholz
Tibicen anatomy page (offsite link).
All Neotibicen posts on this website.

An image from Roy Troutman:

Tibicen fresh out the shell

Tibicen tibicen (T. chloromerus, T. chloromera)

Tibicen cholormera Cicada by CicadaMania.com

Tags N. lyricen lyricen, N. tibicen tibicen

Neotibicen Roy Troutman Tacuini (Cryptotympanini)

Superb Neotibicen superbus (formerly T. superba)

Post author By Dan
Post date June 20, 2009
4 Comments on Superb Neotibicen superbus (formerly T. superba)

Roy Troutman took some excellent Tibicen superbus (formerly T. superba) photos while visiting Texas.

Molted Neotibicen superbus from Texas photo by Roy Troutman

Molting Neotibicen superbus from Texas photo by Roy Troutman

Neotibicen superbus from Texas photo by Roy Troutman 2

Neotibicen superbus from Texas photo by Roy Troutman

Tags N. superbus

Photos & Illustrations

New Cicada Photo Flickr Group

Post author By Dan
Post date June 7, 2009
No Comments on New Cicada Photo Flickr Group

I started a group on Flickr for Cicada Photos. Each week I’ll troll Flickr for the best and invite them to the group, but any one is welcome to submit their photos!

Huechys

Huechys sanguinea

Huechys sanguinea, originally uploaded by =spurdog=.

An amazing red-orange cicada. Most of the body and wings turn black when it’s done drying out, but it is just as amazing.

Cicada Mania

13 Years of Cicada Mania

Cicada Mania is 13 years old.

In 1996, I started the site to document some Brood II Magicicada photos I took in my back yard and at a friend’s wedding, and the site took off from there.

The site has had 7 different URLs over the years.

In 2004, during the Brood X emergence, the site received 50,000 visitors in a single day and I was interviewed on CNN (Ted Nugent haircut in a ponytail):

2007 and 2008 were great as well. In 2007 I got to meet fellow cicada enthusiasts Roy Troutman, Gene Kritsky, Gerry Bunker and Joe Green, and I was interviewed for a Japanese TV show:

And in 2008 I drove out to Ohio and stayed with Roy Troutman, met Gene Kritsky again, and met John Cooley for the first time.

Here’s the original logo:

It’s been a fun 13 years.

Brood II Magicicada Pop Culture

Magicicada photos from Sandy Aiello

Post author By Dan
Post date May 31, 2009
No Comments on Magicicada photos from Sandy Aiello

Sandy Aiello was kind enough to let us post some of her Magicicada photos on Cicadamania:

Brood II Magicicada Periodical Stragglers

Magicicada septendecim photos

Post author By Dan
Post date May 26, 2009
1 Comment on Magicicada septendecim photos

On Monday (Memorial Day) I was lucky enough to find a lone Magicicada septendecim brood II straggler in Metuchen, NJ. This is a male, and he was about 1.5 inches or 3.8 centimeters long.

Molted Male Magicicada septendecim