Introducing the Cicada | Life Cycle | 1999 Brood V Account | My Journeys | Magicicada Galleries | Magicicada Gallery 2 | Magicicada Nymphs | Chimneys & Emergence Holes | Magicicada Emergence | Magicicada Emergence 2 | Magicicadas Feeding | Magicicada Mating | Magicicada Ovipositing | Eggs & Egg Damage | Cicada Mortality | Brood Maps | Tibicen Galleries | Tibicen Gallery 2 | Tibicen Nymphs | Tibicen Emergence | Tibicen Emergence 2 | Tibicen Feeding & Ovipositing | Okanagana Galleries | Field Guide | How to Find | Deterrence | Armed Robbery??? | My Story | About Me | Cicada Links | The Future
Introducing the Cicada
Cicadas ("Suh-Kay-Duhs") - belong to the Phylum Arthropoda and the Class Insecta (or insects) which are those creatures described as having three body parts (head, thorax, & abdomen), two antennae, and six legs. Cicadas belong to the order Hemiptera and the sub order Homoptera which are classified as those insects with piercing mouth parts designed for sucking plant juices and have three stages of development (egg, nymph, & adult). Cicadas are the largest insects in their order and are closely related to aphids and scale insects. Cicadas make up a Super family called the Cicadoidea which also includes leaf and tree hoppers, and are in their own family called the Cicadidae. There are approximately 1500 species in the Cicadidae family, most of which are tropical. Only approximately 75 of these species inhabit North America. From there, the Cicadidae is broken down into groups called the "Genus." Three genus's that exist near the Great Lakes are listed below. There are other genus's near this region which I hope to include sometime in the near future. Genus's are then broken down into each individual species... Several different types of species are noted on this site.
Worldwide, cicadas are heralded in folklore and myths and are often associated with "rebirth" in other cultures. Cicadas have a wide diversity where some are the size of fruit flies while others can have a wingspan of over eight inches, such as the species "Pomponia imperator" which is found in Malaysia. Most known cicada species have multiyear life cycles, where some have developed "periodical" life cycles and are not seen for many years at a time. Such as the Magicicada species.....
1. Genus Magicicada - This is perhaps the most renown cicada in the world. The Magicicada or "Periodical Cicada" became known by the first settlers to North America who mistaken them for a Biblical plague of locusts due to their large numbers... Hence the commonly used ?locusts? term has forever been labeled not only to this genus, but the entire Cicadidae family.
Magicicadas are found only in the Eastern United States. Up North, the genus requires 17 years to mature while in some Southern states, they require 13 years. There is some dispute amongst Entomologists whether there are six species or three species of Magicicada, namely three 17 year races (M. septendecim, M. cassini, M. septendecula) and three 13 year races (M. treseptendecim, M. trecassini, M. treseptendecula). Recently (1998), a fourth 13 year species was discovered and named Magicicada neotredecim.
Magicicada emergences are labeled as Broods ranging with Roman numerals from Brood I to Brood XXX. Brood I through Brood XVII are designated to the 17 year races while Broods XVIII through XXX are designated to the 13 year races. However, sometimes Magicicadas get off schedule and emerge in smaller numbers on off years. This is called "straggling" which can make it hard to construct accurate maps of their emergence areas. There are also sometimes 4 year emergence accelerations and 1 year decelerations which is a part of the evolutionary process of the Broods. There are no longer thirty Broods which some have become extinct and/or there is some debate whether some ever really existed.
Magicicadas are usually 1 to 1.5 inches in length and have bright red eyes with orangish wing veins and legs. Their bodies are black but give off a navy blue aura when hit with the proper lighting. They also have a form of a ?W? on their larger fore wings which an "urban legend" associates this with a prediction of "war." Some species have banded orangish undersides.
2. Genus Tibicen - This is the common annual cicada which is seen during the heat of mid to late summer. They are also commonly called the "Dog Day Cicada" or "Harvest Fly." The time underground for Tibicens to reach maturity is unknown. It is believed that the Tibicens require usually 2 to 5 years to mature, perhaps longer. Since Tibicen Broods overlap, they are found every year.
Tibicens are larger than Magicicadas with some species reaching a length of two inches or more. Tibicens generally have black bodies with greenish wing veins and markings. Some species have black and gray markings while many species have white undersides. Tibicens are found throughout the United States.
There are several species near the Great Lakes region, some of the more common being T. chloromera, T. cannicularis, T. linnei, and T. auletes, T. lyricen, and T. pruinosa. These different species like to sing at different times of the day but can form chorus's together which each specific song can be picked out by a careful ear.
3. Genus Okanagana - This Genus is often mistaken for Magicicadas in that they can also appear in great numbers. Okanaganians are approximately 1.0 to 1.25 inches in length and have tan and grayish colored bodies with an off-orange underside. This Genus is distributed in the Great Lakes region but is not as well known as their Magicicada and Tibicen cousins.
I find this genus as fascinating as the other two and only hope that more research will be conducted in the future to obtain more data about them. It is possible that a species named Okanagana rimosa may have a 9 year life cycle and may be pro to-periodical (Say). Like Tibicens, the actual time they take to mature is unknown... Asides from O. rimosa, there are also O. canadensis and O. balli located in the Great Lakes region.
A brief history of the Cicada
65 Million Years Ago: Cretaceous Period - The first known cicadas in the fossil record.
1766 BC: Shang Dynasty - Cicadas are used in Chinese art.
1122 BC: Chou Dynasty - Jade cicadas are used in religious ritual burials as symbols of the soul.
560 BC: The fable of the "Cicada & the Ant" is told by the slave, AEsop the Phrygian.
500 BC: Cicadas are used in the artwork of ancient Greek coins.
332 BC: Cicadas are kept as pets by the ancient Greeks. They are also studied and written about by the famous philosopher, Aristotle.
300 BC: Cicadas are used as figurines in Italian Jewry.
200 BC: India Cicadas are mentioned in the Hindu Laws - "The Institutes of Manu."
735 AD: Chinese Emperor Hang Ts'ung regards cicadas as symbols of the passage from mortal life to a higher state.
1633 AD: The first Magicicada emergence is observed in the new world by the Plymouth Colony.
1650 AD: A cicada is observed being devoured by a mantis by swordsman Wang Lang. Lang creates the Mantis (Kung Fu) Fighting Style.
1666 AD: The Brood XIV emergence becomes the first published account of the Magicicada by H. Oldenberg.
1759 AD: Magicicada septendecim is recognized and named "Cicada septendecim" by Swedish Scientist, Carolus Linnaeus.
1764 AD: Superstitions of war become instituted with the Magicicada.
1812 AD: Dr. S. P. Hildreth of Ohio confirms the 17 year life cycle of the Northern Magicicada.
1825 AD: The Genus name "Tibicen" is assigned to many of the Dog-Day Cicadas by P.A. Latreille.
1851 AD: M. cassini is identified and named a separate species by Dr. J.C. Fisher. The name was in honor of John Cassin's field research.
1858 AD: Dr. D. L. Phares confirms the existence of a 13 year life cycle in Southern Magicicadas.
1865 AD: U.S. Department of Agriculture Entomologist Charles V. Riley publishes his first cicada bulletin and continues to do so for years after until Charles L. Marlatt takes over the project.
1868 AD: The known Magicicada species is increased to 4 as 13 year M. tredecim are recognized and named separate from the 17 year races by Benjamin D. Walsh and Charles V. Riley.
1889 AD: W. L. Distant begins to classify many families and species of cicada which become the focus of his life.
1898 AD: U.S Department of Agriculture Entomologist Charles L. Marlatt begins to map and assign names to the different Magicicada Broods.
1906 AD: W. L. Distant publishes his "Synonymic Catalogue of Homoptera: Cicadidae."
1907 AD: C.L. Marlatt redefines the Brood areas and renames them to what we still use today.
1925 AD: The Genus name "Magicicada" is assigned to the Periodical Cicada by William T. Davis.
1940 AD: The U.S. Department of Agriculture discontinues the Brood mapping project due to the outbreak of World War II.
1953 AD: M. septendecula is field studied by D. J. Borror and C.R. Reese.
1962 AD: Richard Alexander and Thomas E. Moore further describe the species M. septendecula and M. tredecula.
1976 AD: R.S. Soper publishes his study of the proto periodicity of Okanagana rimosa, revealing the species to possibly have a 9 year life cycle.
1988 AD: Brood X has a major 1 year deceleration in Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky.
1996 AD (March): The first Magicicada preserve is proposed in Hamden, Connecticut near Sleeping Giant Park by Yale University.
1996 AD (June): The web page "Cicada Mania" is launched by Dan Century and becomes a worldwide renown cicada information resource.
1998 AD: A new 13 year cicada species "M. neotredecim" is discovered by C. Simon, John Cooley, David Marshall, & A. P. Martin.
1998 AD (May): 17 year Brood IV and 13 year Brood XIX emerge together in Missouri and Iowa. A phenomenon that only occurs once every 221 years (17 X 13).
2000 AD: 1/100 of Brood X emerges 4 years ahead of schedule in parts of Southern Ohio which remains consistent in the past century and demonstrates evidence of a new Brood that is beginning to evolve.
2001 AD: After years of study and fascination, I finally get off my buttocks and create the "Great Lakes Cicada Page." A new page for the new Millennium!