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Mating T. pruinosus cicadas from Topeka, KS

Sightings Category: Cicadas

Mating T. pruinosus cicadas from Topeka, KS

These T. pruinosus I caught a few days ago...I got the males to call and finally got a pair to mate, I accidentally disturbed them and they fell from a branch but they're alive and well even though they look knocked out in the picture...

Date Posted: 2011-07-26 Comments: (4) Show Comments Hide Comments

Comments

Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-07-27 | Website:

Hi Jimmy,

Who knows what goes through a cicadas ganglion as they probably don't have a brain like you and I. Suffice it to say, I'm sure when you knocked them off the branch, they are none the worse for wear. They look like they are still enjoying themselves. I'm curious, did you notice the pair formation? As we discussed earlier, male calling is not always necessary for mating with cicadas being your males and females are in such close proximity to each other. Thanks for sharing.

Posted By: Jimmy Wu | On: 2011-07-27 | Website:

Yes, I did see the formation, the males walk up to the females and started lightly flicking his wings, if the female was receptive, she'll give a quiet flick like in periodical cicadas, which surprised me that they do this. Also, I've put new males and females in the enclosure and they are mating like crazy...in fact, the males got so turned on that the ones who hasn't "gotten their turn" shall we say...actually began mounting other males! Usually the other male knows of this and kicks him off...

Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-07-28 | Website:

Actually the behavior you're witnessing is spot-on. Especially in wild-caught males. The will always try to mate with each other. I am curious, was there any calling by the males prior to copulation?

Posted By: Jimmy Wu | On: 2011-07-28 | Website:

Amazingly no, they seem to mate and feed just fine, but they don't always call and have never heard them sing prior to mating. Usually I have to play a recording in order to get them to call and it only works in the afternoon. Even in the wild I do not hear T. pruinosus call during the morning and noon hours. They usually start calling around the afternoon around 6:30 to 7:00 Central time. However one interesting fact I'm witnessing is that most males will stop calling by 9:00 while a few males call way into the night. I was woken up one year at 3:00 a.m. to the call of a T. pruinosus outside my window. But they do not call prior to copulation, they just flick their wings a bit like Magicicada.

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