Periodical Cicada Page |
Emerging 1 2 3 4 |
| "Cicadas do not possess special defensive mechanisms -- they do not
sting or bite. The ovipositor (which some may mistake for a stinger) is
used only for laying eggs and the mouth parts are used only for feeding
on twigs; thus, periodical cicadas can hurt you only if they mistake you
for a tree branch!" University
of Michigan
After emerging from the ground, the cicada climbs up a tree or shrub to shed its shell. It makes an opening in the back of the shell then crawls out leaving the shell attached. If it hasn't become a bird snack by now, it dries it's wings then goes about the business of drinking and making babies. When approached, a cicada will simply fly away. If handled, both males and females struggle to fly, and males make a loud defensive buzzing sound that may startle but is otherwise harmless. Cicadas are not poisonous or known to transmit disease." University of Michigan Periodical Cicada Page. It is the male that makes all of the noise. "After mating, adult female cicadas use their blade like ovipositor to make long openings in new growth sections of tree branches. A female usually lays 20 to 30 eggs in each opening, and there can be several egg "nests" per branch. During her short adult life stage, each female lays approximately 600 eggs. The eggs take six to eight weeks to mature then the nymphs drop to the ground and immediately begin their descent into an underground world." John Folz University of Florida "Eggs hatch into nymphs, which drop to the ground and burrow into the soil, where they suck juices from roots of trees and shrubs. Depending upon the species, cicada nymphs remain underground from 1 to 17 years, then emerge." 4-40.com We are expecting the "adult periodical cicadas, Magicicada spp., they are sucking insects, about 1.5-inches long, that appear from May to July. They are most numerous in the last two weeks of May and first week of June. They are black and have reddish-orange eyes and legs. Adults have clear wings with orange veins that are held roof-like over their bodies." Ohio Online Fact Sheet |
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The information below is from the Great Lakes Cicada Page
65 Million Years Ago: Cretaceous Period - The first known cicadas in the fossil record. 200
BC: India Cicadas are mentioned in the Hindu Laws - "The Institutes
of Manu."
300 BC: Cicadas are used as figurines in Italian Jewry. 332
BC: Cicadas are kept as pets by the ancient Greeks. They are
also studied and written about by Aristotle.
500
BC: Cicadas are used in the artwork of ancient Greek coins.
560 BC: The fable of the "Cicada & the Ant" is told by the slave, AEsop the Phrygian. 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.
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!
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