Cicada Mania

Return of the 17-Year Cicadas

Post author By Dan
Post date October 11, 2005
5 Comments on Return of the 17-Year Cicadas

Way back in July a man by the name of Samuel Orr mailed me a DVD trailer of a film he had a part in making called Return of the 17-Year Cicadas. At the time my reaction was “I am simply blown away by its excellence. That might be the best cicada video I’ve seen so far”. Somehow I let it slip through the cracks and I forgot to write about it. In the mean time the movie has won first prize in the Non-Interactive Media category of the 2005 Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. I’m sure once the film reaches a wider audience — perhaps PBS or the Animal Planet channel (hint! hint!) — it will win more awards.

Read all about the new, award winning cicada documentary Return of the 17-Year Cicadas on the excellent EurekAlert! Science Reporting Alert website. Make sure you download and watch the video too. It is incredible.

Thanks to Roy and Dona for reminding me to post something about this film.

Eggs Nymphs

Cicada Larvae Pictures

So, what do cicada larvae look like? Technically they’re called nymphs, not larvae. When cicadas progress from one stage of development to another, they molt, rather than pupate. Each stage of development is called an instar. Most, if not all, cicadas go through five instars. The adult phase is the fifth instar.

First, here’s what their eggs look like:

Cicada Eggs
Photo by Roy Troutman.

When the eggs hatch, the cicadas don’t look like a grub or maggot as you might expect; instead they look like tiny termites or ants, with 6 legs and antennae. At this point, they’re called first instar nymphs.

Here are some first instar cicadas:

First instar cicada nymphs
Photo by Roy Troutman.

Here is a first and second instar cicada in the soil:

Elias's 1st and 2nd Instar Magicicada nymph
Photo by Elias Bonaros.

Here is a first, second, third, and fourth instar:

Cicada Nymphs
Photo courtesy of Chris Simon.

If you are interested in participating in cicada nymph research, visit The Simon Lab Nymph Tracking Project page for more information. You must have had periodical cicadas on your property in the past 13 or 17 years to find the nymphs — not including the Brood II area since those nymphs came out of the ground this year.

Neotibicen Tibicen

Mystery Cicada 2 is a Neotibicen dorsatus

Post author By Dan
Post date September 5, 2005
6 Comments on Mystery Cicada 2 is a Neotibicen dorsatus

Mystery 2 Bill from Lincoln, Nebraska sent us this awesome photo of a cicada. I’ve never seen a cicada quite like this one. It’s as pretty as a butterfly. My guess is it belongs to the genus Diceroprocta, but I don’t know what species it is. Anyone know? If so, leave your guess in the comments section below.

Tim McNary wrote:

The cicada you pictured is either Tibicen dealbatus or Tibicen dorsatus. It’s kind of hard to tell from a picture. If you found it in trees in town, it is probably T. dealbatus. If you found in grassy sandhills and the pronotum in swollen in profile it is probably T. dorsatus. The characture that Davis uses, the shape of the uncus, is actually unreliable.

David and Gerry said it was a Tibicen dorsatus (formerly T. dorsata).

Tags M. dorsatus

Arts & Crafts

A Cicada Poem from David Granville

Post author By Dan
Post date August 28, 2005
2 Comments on A Cicada Poem from David Granville

Cicada Songs (for “Cicada Mania”)

They say your songs
portend the end of summer
just as chirping robins
usher in the spring air.

Listen to the sound
whirring, buzzing through
leaves of trees that shelter
the thrumming brood.

Insect monks chant
hymns of nature
for us and for
their silent females: “mate her.”

More musical than electric currents
that hum along power lines,
your symphony hovers,
guarding the sultry night like armored palatines.

Constant and pervasive,
we humans sometimes hear
sometimes ban your frequencies,
lulled to sleep by drums so dear.

Air conditioners and headphones
drown out your beautiful noise
but others sing with you
till Fall’s frost steals these little joys.

-DFG

Pop Culture

International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI)

Post author By Dan
Post date August 24, 2005
1 Comment on International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI)

In October 2005 the 6th International Film Festival of Insects (FIFI) will be held in Prades France.

From the FIFI homepage:

Since 1995, OPIE-LR (Office for the Insects and their Environment in Languedoc-Roussillon) has organized the International Festival of Film on Insects every two years.

This 6th biennial event will take place from 5th to 9th October 2005 in Prades (Pyrénées Orientales) in southern France.

FIFI is a cultural, educational, scientific and convivial feast with an international dimension. This year it occurs in a unique natural site: Canigou mountain, which has 7 Nature Reserves and the Regional Natural Park of Pyrénées Catalanes

Audio, Sounds, Songs Neotibicen

Louder than a lawnmower

Someone asked how loud Neotibicens were in terms of decibels. According to the University of Florida Book of Insect Records the Tibicen resh has a maximum sound pressure level of 107.2db, and the Tibicen pronotalis has a max SPL of 108.9db. Other species of Tibicen seem to max out around 80-100db.

Bonus unrelated link:

A French Canadian Tibicen page (thanks Roy).

Neotibicen Tibicen

A cicada and an leafhopper

Post author By Dan
Post date August 14, 2005
6 Comments on A cicada and an leafhopper

Cicada and a leaf hopper

Here’s a cute image for you: a cicada and its cousin, the leafhopper, in the same picture. If you look closely, you’ll see they look alike. Cicadas and leafhoppers belong to the same superfamily called Cicadoidea. Cicadas belong to the family Cicadidae, and leafhoppers belong to the family Cicadellidae.

FAQs

How to find and photograph cicadas at night

Post author By Dan
Post date August 13, 2005
2 Comments on How to find and photograph cicadas at night

A tisket a tasket cicadas on a basket
Check your trees at night for molting cicadas.

Here are some tips for finding and photographing newly emerged cicadas at night:

Look for cicadas on trees where you’ve heard cicadas during the day, or where you’ve seen cicada nymph exoskeletons.
Cicada nymphs emerge from the ground shortly after dusk. You can start your hunt then.
Carry a flashlight and your camera. As you approach a tree, shine the flashlight on the ground close to the tree. You don’t want to step on any of them!
Scan the tree trunk and all the limbs with your flashlight. Once you spot one, get ready with your camera.
If you don’t spot any cicadas after dusk, try a half hour later, and then a half an hour after that, up until 11 pm.
Non-techie digital camera tips:
1. Set the camera on auto or portrait (usually a picture of a profile).
2. Set the focus on Macro (usually a picture of a tulip) or manual.
3. Experiment with these settings.
Don’t touch the cicadas: for the most natural photos, you don’t want them to be disturbed.

Good luck. I hope they’ll work for you!

Neotibicen Tibicen

Identify the cicada!

Update: Gerry Bunker nailed it: it’s a Neotibicen superbus. Notice that the “McDonald’s Arch” is separated.

Here’s a challenge for all you cicada maniacs: identify this cicada! Even I don’t know what it is. Place your guesses in the Comments (see link below).

The photo was taken by Elise Solloway in Oklahoma in August of this year.