Tibicen chloromera in Massachusetts Sighting

Tibicen chloromera in Massachusetts Sighting

As you may or may not know, T. chloromera Tibicen tibicen in Massachusetts is quite rare. Most have been chalked up to satellite males coming up from the south looking for new territory. I reported last year that there was a T. chloromera Tibicen tibicen calling in my yard. I managed to get a very poor quality recording which I had confirmed by John Cooley and John Zyla of Cicadas.info.

Well, this year I'd like to officially report a second record of a T. chloromera Tibicen tibicen in my neighborhood! It started at a church on Middlesex Road just south of my house. It was running virtually in a straight line heading north towards the southern New Hampshire border following the road which runs parallel to the Merrimack River. It flew into my yard, called a few times and kept heading north. I got a good video and sound recording this year.

Click the thumbnail to the left to watch the video. This video was taken directly across the street from my house in my neighbor's yard. So my back is south, this is facing north. Temperature was in the mid 80's and I started hearing it call at 11:30 am.

That makes 3 documented sightings this year for Massachusetts. A sighting on Martha's Vineyard, a sighting in Cambridge, Ma. by John Cooley and a sighting by yours truly in North Chelsmford, MA. for the second year in a row.

While this is purely speculation on my part, I find it highly coincidental that for the second year in a row I have heard T. chloromera Tibicen tibicen in my neighborhood. I am of the mind-set that there must be a small established population close by. It just doesn't make sense to hear them for a second year if these are just satellites passing through. The Merrimack River is close by so I suspect that these T. chloromera Tibicen tibicen are following the river. I think I will have to investigate this theory for next year.

Update 3/15/11: The species name T. chloromera has been officially changed to Tibicen tibicen