Latest Cicada News
No Live Specimens Today
I hit my usual spots at St. Patrick Cemetery today. It's sunny and in the 80's and it's supposed to reach 90 and humid. Heard one or two T. canicularis calls today but still no T. lyricens at all. I checked my normal spots for T. lyricen but didn't find a single specimen.
I did however find several new exuvia about the cemetery. These were obviously T. lyricen save for one which definitely looked like T. canicularis. The beech tree had as many as 6 exuvia on it. This tree I found the T. lyricen
Date Posted: 2005-07-11 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada General Info
Many Cicadas Found Today
This is really surprising. It's really a cloudy, cool and overcast day. It's 60 degrees outside. Despite that I found several different specimens in all parts of the cemetery here. All seem to be on Ash trees as well which I think is T. lyricen's preferred host plant. At least here in Massachusetts. It also looks like I can take back what I said about the Ash trees last year. That they may not be producing Cicadas this year. All the Ash trees that produced Cicadas last year are indeed producing
Date Posted: 2005-07-07 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada General Info
Not Much Happening - Lousy Weather
I decided to stay home today because of the lousy weather outside. This gave me some time to study the three Tibicen lyricen specimens that I have found so far. The T. lyricen var. englehardti female is really darkening up now but I want to take some more close up shots of it but I want to wait for the sun to shine so that I can take some shots of the specimen in full sunlight but that won't be happening for a while if this weather keeps up. I currently have them in a terrarium that I purcha
Date Posted: 2005-07-06 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada General Info
St. Patrick's Cemetery At Night
Since I had such dismal luck this afternoon, I decided to head out to St. Patrick Cemetery at around 11:00 pm this evening. It's a real warm night so I figured I'd try my luck now. Even after not being here since last year, being in a cemetery at night really does give me the creeps. But nevertheless, I carry on.
I try my old favorite spots that I used to go to last year in this cemetery like my favorite Ash trees but I am having no luck on those. I try the spot where I found the male a
Date Posted: 2005-07-05 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada General Info
T. canicularis Heard Calling Today
I went out Cicada hunting today. It was quiet all day wherever I went. I get back home after a dismal day of Cicada hunting around 4:00 pm and right in my own yard a Tibicen canicularis was calling for a mate in a big White Birch tree in my yard. I haven't found any signs of T. canicularis yet but it is clear that T. canicularis and T. lyricen must emerge about the same time, maybe T. canicularis by a week or so earlier. Still no T. lyricen calls yet (just as I figured.)
As promised the
Date Posted: 2005-07-05 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada General Info
First Cicada of the Season
I found my first Tibicen lyricen Cicadas of the season today. Where else but St. Patrick Cemetery? I knew it was getting to be about that time. Last year I started hearing the call of T. canicularis on July 9th. With what I have learned last year, I suspected that Cicadas should be emerging soon (prior to July 9th) so for about a week I have been hunting.
I suspected that a newly emerged male Cicada takes several days for their timbals to develop enough to call for females. I figured t
Date Posted: 2005-07-04 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada General Info
Okanagana rimosa in New England
If you live in Massachusetts or anywhere in New England and have seen Okanagana rimosa or Okanagana canadensis it would be appreciated if you could drop an email. Since I am anxious to find live specimens of this species for study. Their discarded exuvia (nymph shells) look like the below images:
Click the images for a closer look. Sorry for the poor quality but hopefully you can make out the prominent black bands. This is how you can tell the difference between Okanagana cicada ex
Date Posted: 2005-06-20 Comments: (1) Category: Cicada Projects
Brood X One Year Later
So it's one year later (2005). I'm a year older and Brood X is one year gone. Or is it? I decided to see what the same areas where I found Brood X Magicicadas in West Virginia last year are like this year. I've heard that some Magicicadas can get their emergence times mixed up (maybe because they forgot to set their alarm clocks) and you can get what is known as Straggling. This happens when a small number of Magicicadas from any given Brood emerge a year later.
I decided that I wanted to inves
Date Posted: 2005-06-05 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada Missions
Dead T. canicularis Found at St. Patrick Cemetery
11:30 am - Back again today. This is probably going to be the last day for me to obtain specimens as I feel I've got a lot of data to start building up the remaining pages of this new web site. Besides, it's getting cooler now (winter is coming early it seems) and I need to do work on my driveway which will take a few weeks to do. Plus I'll need to get the snow blower ready for the winter season. After all, this was supposed to be only a hobby!!
At the cemetery today I have to take a wide s
Date Posted: 2004-09-03 Comments: (0) Category: Cicada General Info