Massachusetts Cicadas General News
About Cicada General Info News Category
This sections contains general news articles that don't quite fit into the other news categories. Cicadas General Info contain articles such as reports from contributors, information on first emergences during a cicada season as well as information on areas where the author has revisited. There are lots of images and videos contained within these articles. Feel free to ask questions and post comments in the comments section at the end of each article.
Brood XIV Magicicadas are Arriving!
Hey folks. Welcome to the start of yet another Cicada season. The only difference is, this will be another year for Periodical Cicadas to emerge. Last year I went to the mid-west and participated in a big distribution mapping project through a grant from National Geographic and the University of Connecticut at Storrs. That Brood was known as Brood XIII. This time however, Massachusetts will be experiencing the Periodical Cicadas known as Brood XIV!
Since Massachusetts is the northernmost range
Date Posted: 2008-04-27 Comments: (1)
Cicada Killers Invade Swansea, Ma.
There is an area of Massachusetts that is south of me and about a two hour drive called Swansea, MA. I have had my eye on this area of Massachusetts because it is so close to Rhode Island and there are a lot of ocean inlets and rivers around the town that drain into the ocean. This area seemed ideal for two species of cicadas that are found in other areas of New England, that love areas of water and sandy soil and may just be in this area. Those two species are Tibicen chloromera and T. auletes
Date Posted: 2007-07-29 Comments: (3)
Back Yard Cicadas Found!
I can't believe my luck. Usually I have to travel to other places in order to find molting cicadas This night was different however. I decided that I would set up some light traps in my yard just to see what kind of insects I could attract. I have three light traps that use three different light sources, UV Black Light, Halogen and Mercury Vapor.
I set my traps up and just decided to wait outside for a bit. I decided that since I found exuvia last year on a pine tree in my yard, I decided t
Date Posted: 2007-07-27 Comments: (2)
T. canicularis and T. lyricen Adult Forms
I thought that I would post some additional photos from the two nymphs that I took a series of photos for you back on July 20, 2007. These are several days from teneral.As you can see by the below photos there are definite differences between species.
Tibicen canicularis Adult Cicada - Female
Tibicen lyricen Adult Cicada - Female
Date Posted: 2007-07-26 Comments: (0)
Two Cicada Nymphs from Fairview Cemetery
I decided to go back again to Fairview Cemetery where the week before I got a total of 10 cicadas. Sure enough, I found two nymphs right away. One on an old maple tree and the other on another younger maple tree. I didn't want a repeat of what happened last weekend so I didn't stay until 3:00am but came home at a decent hour. I decided I wanted to get a nice series of shots of these two nymphs molting. The first set is of a Tibicen canicularis. Click the thumbnails below for larger pictures:
Date Posted: 2007-07-20 Comments: (1)
Okanagana rimosa Habitat
Below are some photos of the habitat where I obtained the O. rimosa at the Montague Plains Wildlife Management area. Not only is this a great place for insects like Cicadas and Cicada Killers but there are wild blueberries growing everywhere for the picking.
Unfortunately, though it seems that O. rimosa is completely done from this area for this year. However, there are Cicada Killers here! Maybe this will be a good spot for other cicadas. I will have to come back here later in the summer
Date Posted: 2007-07-14 Comments: (0)
Major Cicada Score at Fairview - Westford, Ma
Well folks, this is my first major score of the season. The evening didn't start out like I wanted. I started out at St. Patrick Cemetery in Lowell Ma. This is the place where I found my very first Cicada tenerals back in 2004 when I first got interested in cicadas. There was nary a cicada nymph or teneral to be found.
At around 10:30pm I decided to go to another cemetery which I started to frequent back in 2005 called Fairview Cemetery in Westford, MA. Here is where I hit the jackpot!! I
Date Posted: 2007-07-13 Comments: (0)