Categories
Okanagana Platypedia

Guessing at when the next Platypedia or Okanagana hatch will happen

Platypedia
Platypedia cicada by CGWiber of the Dutch John Resort of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Utah.

Platypedia and Okanagana species are favorites of fly fishers in the western United States.

The trick is guessing when they’ll emerge. Platypedia and Okanagana have a periodicity to their abundance, but they are not as predictable as Magicicada cicadas in the eastern US, which emerge exactly every 17 or 13 years. Take a look at the data from Tim McNary’s Platypedia putnami survey at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space by Tim McNary and you’ll see Platypedia can have peaks every 4 or  8 years. Some years there are zero.

I recommend checking out Dave Zielinski’s new book Cicada Madness, Timing, Fishing Techniques, and Patterns for Cracking the Code of Epic Cicada Emergences. It tackles this topic, has a directory of guides and fly shops, and includes fly patterns. It’s a very nice book.

How can you do your research?

If I were you I would call lodges and fishing equipment shops in the area where you want to fish. You can find this information from Dave’s book, or on Google/Bing. Local people are familiar with the emergence patterns in their area. They’ll also try to get your business, of course. That said, fishermen keep their favorite places a secret. I did not know about my father’s secret fishing place until months before he passed away.

You can use iNaturalist to guess when cicadas will emerge in local areas. iNaturalist is a website and app where you can post photos of plants, fungi, and animals and get an identification. Using thousands of people’s posts, we get good data for when and where cicadas emerge.

Example of how to see when Platypedia emerges in northern Utah

We were asked when cicadas would emerge in Northern Utah. I’m going to guess that northern Utah means Provo, UT, and north, so I grabbed the latitude of Provo from Google Maps which is 40.249 (save this data for later).

1) On iNaturalist filter sightings to Show Verifiable and Needs ID; under Description/Tags put in Platypedia; under Place put Utah, US; and for the Date fields choose Any.
Filter Screen

Clicking the Update Search will take you to a page that shows the sightings with photos, locations, dates, and a map.

inaturalist map

But don’t do that yet, go to step 3.

2) Click the Download button, to download the data.
Download INaturalist

3) That takes you to an Export page. Scroll until you see the blue Create Export button and click that. Then once it does its computation, click the Download button. This will download a Comma Separated Value file (.csv) that you can open with Microsoft Excel or a similar program.

Create Export and Download

4) Open the CSV in Excel, save it as an XLSX file, and filter the top/heading row.

5) Filter the “latitude” column by 40.2490. This will give you locations in Northern Utah.

filter by latitude

6) Open a new sheet in Excel, and cut and paste the data from the “observed_on” column into that sheet.

7) Use the Text to Columns wizard under Data to separate the data into months, days, and years.

split in Excel

8) Give the columns the headings Month, Day, and Year and filter them.

With some fiddling, you should get something like:

month day year

9) Determining what day they typically emerge.

We know most cicada hatches happen in May(5) and June(6).

First, filter the Month column by 5.

Then look at the Day data for the average (Mean) and most frequent (Mode) dates when cicadas emerge.

You can do this in Excel or paste the numbers into an online tool like the Mean, Median, Mode Calculator.

Excel formula.
Mean: =AVERAGE(A1:A10)
Median: =MEDIAN(A1:A10)
Mode: =MODE.MULT(A1:A10)

mean median mode

We can see that in May(5) the average day people spot Platypedia is the 23rd (Mean) and the most frequent date is the 29th (Mode). Typically they start to emerge the last week of May, so that’s when you want to start calling the lodges, guides, and fly fishing gear shops for specific information.

Let’s do the same for June(6).

MMM June

We can see for June that the average (Mean) date they are sighted is the 15th and most frequently (Mode) sighted on the 19th. This tells me that the first three weeks of June are a good time for finding Platypedia cicadas.

So, if I was planning a northern Utah fly fishing trip, it better happen between the last week of May to the third week of June, leaning towards the second week of June.

There’s probably an easier way to process the data. Maybe AI tools like ChatGPT.

That said, just call or email the Locals. They know what’s up. Data can only help so much because Platypedia can be so random.

Categories
Annual Proto-periodical

2023 North American Annual Cicadas Location Project on iNaturalist

Neotibicen tibicen aka Morning Cicada aka Swamp Cicada formerly Tibicen chloromera is the winner!!

August 11 Neotibicen (small)

Summary below and on iNaturalist.

As of December 31st, 2023

Neotibicen tibicen, aka the Swamp Cicada aka Morning cicada, is the winner.

Is there a chance another annual or proto-periodical cicada is more plentiful in North America? Yes of course, but in areas where people are using the iNaturalist app most frequently, which is likely not isolated or out of the way areas, Neotibicen tibicen was most plentiful.

Methodology:
1) Downloaded *Research Grade* data from the 2023 North American Annual Cicadas project.
2) Combined sub-species with species counts. In other words, I totaled Neotibicen tibicen + Neotibicen tibicen tibicen + Neotibicen tibicen australis to get Neotibicen tibicen.
3) The 1 species per user + location column reduces the number by one species per user per location. In other words, if I submitted 50 Neotibicen tibicens in Edison, New Jersey, it only counts as 1 (one).

Cicada 1 species per user + location Species totals
Neotibicen tibicen 402 437
Neotibicen lyricen 193 201
Neotibicen superbus 188 263
Megatibicen resh 155 232
Neotibicen pruinosus 139 178
Neotibicen canicularis 125 134
Megatibicen grossus 76 81
Neocicada hieroglyphica 54 63
Neotibicen robinsonianus 47 51
Pacarina puella 41 56
Neotibicen linnei 34 36
Diceroprocta apache 28 35
Neotibicen winnemanna 23 26
Megatibicen pronotalis 23 25
Neotibicen davisi 18 19
Megatibicen dealbatus 17 17
Quesada gigas 15 16
Megatibicen dorsatus 14 16
Megatibicen figuratus 13 14
Diceroprocta vitripennis 9 11
Platypedia putnami 7 19

Tibicen tibicen wins!

About the project

There are 3 types of cicada lifecycles:
1) Periodical: cicadas with a life cycle set to a specific number of years, with a predictable series of emergence years. Magicicada, for instance, emerges every 17 or 13 years depending on the species, and we have a calendar of years when and where they will emerge. Some “stragglers” do emerge each year.
2) Annual: cicadas that emerge every year without fail.
3) Proto-periodical: cicadas that emerge in small numbers every year (annual), but the size of the emergence varies significantly from year to year. Examples include Platypedia (see Platypedia putnami survey at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space by Tim McNary) and Okanagana (see Predator avoidance leads to separate emergence cycles in the protoperiodical Okanagana magnifica).

Considering there would only be Periodical stragglers in 2023, it was a perfect year for an iNaturalist project focusing on cicadas that emerge annually: 2023 North American Annual Cicadas Location Project.

2023 Project

This project includes all of North America, which includes Mexico, the United States, and Canada. iNaturalist determines the geographical footprint. It seems like most of the folks using the iNaturalist app are in the United States.

Typically cicadas in the southernmost, warmest areas (Mexico, Texas) emerge first. Cicadas that have black bodies like Platypedia can tolerate colder temperatures because the sun warms them up, so they’ll emerge in northern areas before other types of cicadas.

As of September 2nd

#1 Morning Cicada, #2 Superb Dog-day Cicada, #3 Resh Cicada, #4 Northern Dog-Day Cicada, and #5 Lyric Cicada. My prediction is that the Northern Dog-Day cicada will surpass Resh in a week or so.

Screen Shot 2023-09-02 at 10.42.25 AM

As of August 25th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Morning Cicada, #3 Resh Cicada, #4 Northern Dog-Day Cicada, and #5 Lyric Cicada.

As of August 11th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Northern Dog-Day Cicada.

Scissor(s) Grinder slipped to 6th place.

As of August 6th

#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Scissor(s) Grinder.

As of July 30th

#1 Superb Dog-day Cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Lyric Cicada, and #5 Hieroglyphic Cicada.

As of July 23rd

,
#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Morning Cicada, #4 Hieroglyphic Cicada, and #5 Little Mesquite Cicada.

The Texan cicada hunters are dominating…

As of July 18th,#1 Superb Dog-day cicada, #2 Resh Cicada, #3 Hieroglyphic Cicada, #4 Little Mesquite Cicada, and #5 Morning Cicada.

As of July 7th, the top 5 cicadas are The Superb Dog-day Cicada, the Resh Cicada, Hieroglyphic Cicada, the Little Mesquite Cicada, and the Lyric Cicada.

As of June 30th, the top 5 cicadas are: The Superb Dog-day Cicada, the Resh Cicada, the Little Mesquite Cicada, Hieroglyphic Cicada, and Putnam’s Cicada (a Platypedia).

Screen Shot 2023-06-30 at 9.14.13 AM

Categories
Books

Cecily Cicada, a cicada book for kids

Update (2/28/2024): looks like there’s a 2024 version of Cecily Cicada: Cecily Cicada: Special Double Brood Edition.

Cecily Cicada 2024

There’s a new version of the book Cecily Cicada by Kita Helmetag Murdock & Patsy Helmetag for 2021. Some of you might remember the original version with the purple cover. Look for the mini-interview at the end of the article.

A delightful book, written by a mother/ daughter before the 17-year cicada emergence of 2004. They wrote it to ease the insect anxiety of their 3-year-old granddaughter/daughter when they learned the cicadas were coming. It tells the miraculous life of a special 17-year cicada named Cecily in an endearing way. Beautifully illustrated and fun. Patsy Helmetag has re-illustrated the original edition for a bright new look for the cicada emergence of 2021.

Cecily Cicada 2021 cover
Here is a Q & A with the authors of the book by Kita Helmetag Murdock & Patsy Helmetag:

Q: What inspired you to write a book about a cicada?

Kita: My mom and I originally wrote Cecily Cicada in 2004, when the Brood X cicadas were about to emerge in Washington, D.C. My then two-year-old daughter was terrified of all bugs, and I was terrified of how she would react when her world was suddenly full of them! We were driving to visit my sister in North Carolina that spring when we had the idea to write a book to ease her fears. Without anything to write on (and without smartphones – times have changed!), we started by writing the first lines in rhyme on the back of a cereal box. By the time we returned home from the trip, we knew we had a book that we wanted to share with all the kids who would be experiencing the cicadas that spring. My mom made the illustrations, and we put the book out into the world. We updated the book for the 2021 Brood X emergence.

Q: Has anyone approached you to make your book into an animated cartoon?

Kita: No, but we wish someone would! It would make a great animated short.

Q: What changes have you made for the 2021 edition of your book?

Patsy: I had so much time during covid that I decided to update all of the illustrations. The new version is brighter and more detailed. We also changed the male singing cicadas to a boy band, from a barbershop quartet, to make them more youthful.

Q: Have you written any other books?
Patsy: I have also written The TransAm Grannies Bicycle Across America and Slothy and Nomi. This past year, during quarantine, I illustrated and co-wrote Squeakestered with my 12-year-old granddaughter.

Kita: I have also written two middle-grade fiction books, Future Flash and Francie’s Fortune.

Categories
Books Brood XIII Brood XIX Magicicada Periodical

New Brood XIX and XIII Cicada Book by Dr. Gene Kritsky

Cicada researcher and communicator Dr. Gene Kritsky has a new book about Brood XIX and XIII which are both emerging in the spring of 2024: A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX. It is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX

Other posts about Dr. Gene Kritsky on this site:

  1. An Interview with Gene Kritsky
  2. Gene Kritsky’s new cicada site and Brood XIV news
  3. Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition by Gene Kritsky
  4. Gene’s App: Cicada Safari app for tracking Magicicada periodical cicadas
Categories
Books Fly Fishing

Cicada Madness, a new cicada-themed fly fishing book

Cicadas are a favorite food of fish, so anglers use lures that emulate cicadas. When there is a large emergence aka “hatch” of cicadas, it can drive the fish into a feeding frenzy, which anglers take advantage of.

There’s a new book called Cicada Madness by author Dave Zielinski that focuses on “timing, fishing techniques, and patterns for cracking the code of epic emergences”. The book features images by myself, Roy Troutman, and others. The book is 164 pages long and features 39 pages of fly patterns.

cicada madness

Categories
Fly Fishing Okanagana Platypedia U.S.A.

Okanagana & Platypedia of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Utah

CGWiber of the Dutch John Resort of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Utah, sent us these cicada photos. CGWiber enjoys fly fishing and “matching the hatch”, which means using fly fishing lures that match the characteristics of cicadas. Cicadas are a favorite food of game fish like trout. They can have years of great abundance. You’ll find them near water because there is more vegetation near water, which is why fish get ahold of them.

Okanagana cicada. It looks like Okanagana magnifica, but I’m not sure.
Okanagana

Okanagana cicada. Looks like Okanagana magnifica. It is about the length of two human phalanges:
Okanagana

Platypedia cicada.
Platypedia

Platypedia cicada. See how tiny they can be? Smaller than one human phalanx.
Platypedia

Okanagana and Platypedia are visually similar.
With few exceptions, both cicadas are primarily black with orange or beige highlights, both can be “hairy”, and both are common west of the Mississippi.

Platypedia tend to be smaller than Okanagana, many have a line down their pronotum, and they make sound by clapping their wings against their bodies. Okanagana make sound by vibrating their tymbals.

Thanks to cicada researcher Jeff Cole, Ph.D., for this tip: “From the side with the wings folded Platypedia have the node on the forewing way out towards the apex, while Okanagana and Tibicinoides will have the node located more or less in the middle of the wing.”

Categories
Platypleura Platypleurini Richard Newfrock

A Platypleura kaempferi

This cicada is a Platypleura kaempferi. The photo comes from us from Richard Newfrock. Platypleura kaempferi is a member of the tribe Platypleurini. P. kaempfer is found in China, South Korea, Japan and other locations — even Poland (but that cicada was likely transported along with produce or in the root ball of a plant). Platypleura means flat/broad sides, and kaempferi likely refers to Emil Kaempfer or Kaempfer’s woodpecker, whose wing resembles the wing of the cicada.

There are three species of Platypleura kaempferi1 (I don’t know what distinguishes them. I don’t see the separate subspecies on iNaturalist either):

  1. P. kaempferi brevipennis Naruse, 1983, which seems to be found in Japan.
  2. P. kaempferi ridleyana Distant, 1905, which seems to be found exclusively in the Malay peninsula.
  3. P. kaempferi kaempferi (Fabricius, 1794), which is found throughout Asia.

Platypleura

Platypleura

Here’s the iNaturalist collection of Platypleura kaempferi photos.

Here’s a comparison of the wing of Kaempfer’s Woodpecker with out possible Platypleura kaempferi:

Wing comparison

Although the woodpecker and cicada resemble each other, Yasumasa Saisho let us know that Platypleura kaempferi was described by the German biologist Engelbert Kämpfer, and its scientific name is derived from it.

Richard Newfrock took the photo of the cicada, and Joao Quental took the photo of Kaempfer’s Woodpecker (Celeus obrieni, Caxias, Maranhão, Brasil) which is under a CC BY 2.0 license.

1 Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-416647-9.00001-2 © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

Categories
Madagascar Platypleurini Richard Newfrock Yanga

A Yanga pulverea from Moramanga, Madagascar

This is a Yanga pulverea from Moramonga, Madagascar from the collection of Richard Newfrock.

This is a Yanga pulverea from Moramonga, Mogagascar from the collection of Richard Newfrock.

Yanga pulverea belongs to the cicada tribe Platypleurini, which are known for their prominent pronotal collars and infuscations on their wings. Platy means broad & flat, and pleur means side. Broad side, flat side. I don’t know the root of the word Yanga, but pulverea means power or dust. Here’s photos of living Y. pulvera on iNaturalist.

Categories
Allen F. Sanborn Cacama Maxine E. Heath U.S.A.

Cacama collinaplaga Sanborn and Heath in Sanborn, Heath, Phillips and Heath, 2011 aka Cactus Dodger

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Cacama
Species: Cacama collinaplaga Sanborn and Heath in Sanborn, Heath, Phillips and Heath, 2011

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.
Categories
Cacama Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) U.S.A. William T. Davis

Cacama variegata Davis, 1919 aka Variegated Cactus Dodger

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Cacama
Species: Cacama variegata 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.