Cicada and Cicada Killers Sightings From New England and The United States

Below are just some of the readers who have submitted information and pictures on Annual Cicada and Cicada Killer sightings. Want your report to be seen here? Then fill in our new Cicada or Cicada Killer Report Form by clicking here or the link under the "Report Cicadas" section of the navigation menu to the left.

Report Brood XIII Cicada Activity

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Below are the User-Submitted Reports for April 2007

04/14/07 - Tibicen auletes in Somers, CT? - Part 4

Both sound bits worked Thank You. I had my husband listen to the call and we are with as much certainty as we both have that this is what we hear every year. As far as looking at them , I’ve never looked at there belly side. The few times I have seen them ,I believe they do look like what I have seen. I set up a e-mail to send you on July 5th and as a back up I also put a reminder on my calendar. You can hear them good on our street and on Bilton road near the prison. Do you have a contact at uconn for endangered species I spoke to a friend that works with the DEP and she said that if I want to prove that there is other Endangered species I should use Uconn because the state does not have the people. Also even though we can prove that they are here there is no laws requiring that the habitat is protected So I am trying to see if there are any Federal laws.

Thank You
Deanise

HI Deanise,

I too agree that it would be a very large uphill battle to protect the land from development. I think at the very least that proof is needed that T. auletes exists there. But that in and of itself probably won't protect the species as as far as I am aware, Cicadas are not considered a "beneficial insect" such as the honeybee or mantis. They on occassion act as a food source for other animals but that might not be enough.

Gerry

04/14/07 - Tibicen auletes in Somers, CT? - Part 3

Gerry,

For some reason the regular calling audio would not come up. But all of the other sounds and video’s did we are almost 100% plus certain that the Alarm Squawk was the Cicada, tibicen auletes I will add a reminder to my computer and set up a e-mail to you for around the beginning of July. I really hope that we can get this documented if in deed it is them. If you want Uconn to come with you that would also be great. This way we can have someone connected with CT also verifying that they are here. Our town does not have any maps or knowledge of where the endangered species are,

Deanise Shewokis
PS The peepers are already out

HI Deanise,

Sorry for my late reply. I Google earthed Somers CT and was surprised to see that you are in an area where I have driven through on many occassions last year and the year before. Admittedly I have not heard T. auletes there when I was there but that doesn't mean that they are not there. T. auletes like to call around mid-morning between 9 and 11 am. Then they "turn off" and start back up again around dusk during the summer.

I did manage to fix the T. auletes call on my video and sound page if you want to have another crack at it to see if you recognize the call.

http://www.mechaworx.com/cicada/cicadavideos.asp

Thanks
Gerry Bunker
Massachusetts Cicadas
http://www.mechaworx.com/cicada/masscic1.asp

04/12/07 - Tibicen auletes in Somers, CT? - Part 2

I went by your photos on your website and what we have seen in the past . Your description of the are that they like to breed in sounds like you were looking at the land across the street and the land at the end of the road. Please let me know when you want to come out and take the sounds and try and find them. I don’t think the neighbors will mind. The land in the middle belongs to the town.

Deanise

Hi Deanise,

I have a sound file of Tibicen auletes which can be found here:

http://www.mechaworx.com/cicada/cicadavideos.asp

This is of a specimen that I captured on Martha's Vineyard last year. Can you tell me if you recognize the calling song? Cicadas start to call around the middle part of July, I can probably come around towards the end of July. You'll just have to send an email to remind me.

Thanks for your help.

Gerry Bunker
Massachusetts Cicadas
http://www.mechaworx.com/cicada/masscic1.asp

04/12/07 - Tibicen auletes in Somers, CT?

I live in Somers , CT and we have a very large population of the Cicada, tibicen auletes, we find the discarded casings in the summer. The land across the street has had the cicada killers for about 3-4 years now. We had no idea what they were until 2 years ago we just thought they were very large mean looking wasps. My neighbor has tried everything to get rid of them and they just move the nest hole and reappear. I don’t know if this will be of any use to you or not . but I am going to use some of the information that I got from your site to try and stop a developer from destroying there habitat.

Thank You
Deanise

Hi Deanise

Thank you for the very informative information. However, I am curious in knowing how you are able to determine that the cicadas that you are hearing are indeed Tibicen auletes? The reason I ask is because Connecticut has several different species of cicadas. Those being Tibicen chloromera, Tibicen canicularis, Tibicen lyricen, Tibicen linnei and seveal others.

Tibicen auletes is quite rare in Connecticut and has been put on Connecticut's "Species of Concern" list. The habitat that they prefer is being destroyed in Connecticut. I have attached a link to a PDF below. If one can determine that it is indeed Tibicen auletes that in and of itself may help you in fighting against development.

What we would need to do is have myself or a representative from the University of Connecticut's Biology department come down there this summer to determine if T. auletes is indeed the insect you are hearing. We would try to take some sound recordings and if at all possible obtain a specimen for the record.

With regards to the cicada killers, while they look and sound mean, they are quite docile wasps. The males do not have stingers and the females rarely sting humans as they like to save their venom for the prey that they need to lay their eggs on.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Species of Concern List for Connecticut:

http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/wildlife/pdf_files/nongame/ETS04.pdf

Regards,

Gerry Bunker
Massachusetts Cicadas
http://www.mechaworx.com/cicada/masscic1.asp