Tibicen tibicen in Brooklyn, NY
Sightings Category: Cicadas
Tibicen tibicen in Brooklyn, NY
I noticed it sitting on the window screen, so i took the cicada off the screen and took few pics of it. At some point cicada sprayed me with some transparent liquid. Than it few off.
Date Posted: 2011-08-23 Comments: (6) Show Comments Hide Comments
Comments
Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-08-24 | Website:
Hi Olga,
What an excellent series of photos of a Tibicen tibicen (formerly T. chloromerus) cicada. I can tell from the second and third photos that this specimen is a female due to the lack of large opercula which are found in males of the species. Thanks for sharing your awesome photos and contributing to our sightings database.
Posted By: Olga | On: 2011-08-24 | Website:
Hi,
I tried to find information on how cicadas act in self defense, because i was wondering what was that liquid it sprayed me with. My friend told me that male cidadas make specific sounds, and this one wasnt, so i assumed it was female.
Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-08-24 | Website:
Hi Olga,
Actually cicadas have rudimentary defense capabilities that are really quite laughable. Their real form of defense is to fly away quickly which makes them difficult to capture.
They sometimes can play dead, or as in males, when assaulted will give out a rather large alarm squawk. This is because males have the sound producing organs known as timbals which enables them to call for females.
Females unfortunately, have no sound producing organs. What you experienced when you handled the female was just it urinating on you. Urination is not a defense mechanism as most cicadas urinate quite often since they are sap-sucking insects.
Cicada urine is actually known as "honeydew" and some tribes in the Amazon collect it and drink it. It is supposed to be really sweet tasting.
The female probably urinated as a fear reflex, though who knows if insects really experience fear since fear is an emotion.
Posted By: Olga | On: 2011-08-25 | Website:
Hi,
it did play dead. While it was sitting in a jar, it sprayed it too. Btw, came across this short movie in the making, by total accident today:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103444427/cicada-princess
Posted By: Jimmy Wu | On: 2011-08-27 | Website:
This species is reclusive and has a very large range, stretching from the Eastern regions of the states to here in Kansas. Although it is not common here in Kansas.
Posted By: Jimmy Wu | On: 2011-08-27 | Website:
This species is reclusive and has a very large range, stretching from the Eastern regions of the states to here in Kansas. Although it is not common here in Kansas.