Cicada Journals August 2nd - August 5th 2006

Hey All, here's another update for you. A lot has happened over the last several days since my last update. I decided to break these down as they happened. So, Let the fun begin. The reader submissions have just about doubled so more of those will be put on the Cicada and Cicada Killer Sightings page.

Two Tibicen lyricens Taken from Cicada Killers - August 2nd 2006

Like last year, I have been periodically visiting the Pine Grove Cemetery in Westford, Ma to check on the status of the Cicada Killer colony there. I counted over 40 Cicada Killer burrows. Every few days more and more burrows seem to pop up by newly emerging females. The time should be coming to an end for them unfortunately as there are only a few more weeks left of good weather for cicadas.

I was able to steal paralyzed cicadas away from two females and I even captured two of the wasps to send to my friend in New Zealand who studies cicadas there.

A Simple Technique

I use a rather simple technique to steal cicadas away from cicada killers. First I insert a stick into a burrow entrance and wait for a female cicada killer to come back with a cicada. If she comes back without a cicada and just wants to check on her burrow, I remove the stick. She will do a little maintenance cleaning then fly off again. Then I just put the stick back again.

If she does catch a cicada, when she tries to enter her burrow, I swat the cicada away from her. This proves how non-aggressive these wasps really are as the female cicada killer just flies off to hunt for another cicada. I then remove the stick from the burrow entrance. Piece of cake.

Below are the images of two paralyzed Tibicen lyricen male cicadas. These guys while they cannot move are very much alive. In fact when I took these home, I pinned them and put them on a spreading board with their wings fully spread. I waited a day or two. When I released them from the spreading board, the wings snapped back into place. The venom of the cicada killer female apparently keeps the cicadas alive and fresh for a very long time.

Tibicen auletes recorded in Connecticut! - August 3rd 2006

For those who are interested, below is a sound recording and probably for the first time ever I might add is the calling song of male Tibicen auletes cicadas. While this species is not rare in the south-eastern part of the country, it is extremely rare up here in New England.

Like myself where I witnessed and recorded Tibicen chloromera calling song in my yard here in Massachusetts, my friend and partner-in-crime Mike Neckermann recorded this gem in Connecticut. Mike and I have been studying the distribution of Tibicen chloromera in Connecticut for the last few years and we are collaborating together on writing a paper. You can read more about Mike and the survey work we performed last year. Look to the left for "Tibicen chloromera in Connecticut" under the away missions section

For fear of being scooped, I am unwilling to reveal the location of this sound recording in Connecticut but suffice it to say it is genuine. Click the thumbnail to the left to hear and see the movie.

Mike told me that he was told by a colleague that he should be able to find T. auletes in this area as a dead specimen was taken a few years back but no one has ever recorded T. auletes in Connecticut. Congratulations Mike! You know that I'm going to have to visit this area right? I smell another away mission coming.

Eight Tibicen canicularis Specimens Obtained at Fairview Cemetery - August 4th 2006

Tonight was a good night for obtaining Tibicen canicularis cicadas at Fairview Cemetery in Westford. I showed up around 10:15 pm and the first tree I went to had a nearly completed molting specimen. Walking around for a while I discovered two more molting specimens and an additional three emerging nymphs!

But I had a problem. If you read my page on How To Catch Cicadas, (see the link to the left towards the top under "Cicada Navigation") you know that it is always a good idea to keep cicada nymphs separated. If you don't they'll cling to each other in the same container and try to molt off of each other. You see, as long as you can keep a nymph from anchoring its legs, then it won't molt, at least that is what I have learned and ALWAYS KEEP THEM SEPARATED.

Unfortunately I didn't have my trusty plastic box that is separated into individual compartments and I only had three glass jars with me, so this meant that I had to use the jars to keep the specimens separated but then, I would've had nothing to hold the three molting cicada specimens. So what I did was drive home really quickly (by this time it was around 11:00 pm). I set up a mesh bag on a tree branch which I wrote about in the previous update (see below).

I put the nymphs in the bag then I drove back. I walked around and saw that all three molting cicadas where just about completed and I was just about to collect them when I discovered two additional nymphs! Not to mention another two nymphs that were too high to reach but I decided to not be greedy so I left those alone.

So what I did was put two completely molted cicadas in one jar and put another cicada in a jar by itself. Then I found an extra jar without a lid and I put one of the nymphs in there and the other nymph in another jar by itself.

Ever try to drive while holding four jars while at the same time driving very carefully so as not to jostle newly molted cicadas so their wings won't get damaged? Let me tell you it's real tough!

I finally made it home in one piece but it was well after midnight and I had a long day ahead of me. I planned on leaving early to go to Connecticut and continue with the distribution mapping of Tibicen chloromera there as well as see if I could find the exact spot where my friend Mike Neckermann heard that wonderful T. auletes calling on the 3rd of August. I knew that they were dusk calling cicadas so that meant for a very long day.

An observation:

Take a look at the image by clicking on the thumbnail above and to the right. This nymph is exhibiting a behavior that I reported on a few years ago where it is playing dead. Some cicada nymphs do this especially in Tibicen canicularis. This behavior even carries over into adulthood but not all specimens do this.

I looked in the first bag with the three nymphs I dropped off earlier and I saw that they were molting nicely. They were not yet complete but I was satisfied. I took the two new nymphs that I found and put them in another mesh bag and left the completely molted specimens in the jar. I will separate males from females when I got back from Connecticut.

Off To Connecticut Again - August 5th, 2006

You may want to click on the Tibicen chloromera in Connecticut 2006 in the away missions section above and to the left for a complete run-down of what went on down there today. It's under the "Away Missions" section

But prior to that I got up this morning to check on the cicada nymphs and cicadas that I collected the night before, before I start off for my long ride to Connecticut. I see that the three original nymphs have molted completely and they are well on their way to being full-fledged adults. The cicadas in the jars are doing nicely from the night before. I will have pictures of them all up during my next update.

Another Strange Observation:

However, and this is really strange but the two nymphs I brought back and put in the second bag have not molted at all! I've seen this happen once before where a nymph just never really molted. It was with a Tibicen lyricen nymph I found last year in the same cemetery.

In fact they were in the exact spot I placed them in last night. They didn't look dead however but they never really even started molting. I thought that they were damaged and probably would never molt. Usually, I can obtain a nymph, take it home, stick it on a stick and within a half hour it will start to molt. These two specimens didn't at all.

Anyway, when I got back from my trip to Connecticut, I seen that they finally molted. But from the time I placed them in the mesh bag the night before up until I left for Connecticut, at least 6 hours had passed and they still hadn't started to molt. Very strange! Oh well, I'm glad it worked out anyway.

Off to Martha's Vineyard

Well, starting Thursday August 10 I will be gone for 5 days. I will be on Martha's Vineyard doing cicada research. I'm going to investigate a report of T. auletes being there back in the 1920's. I want to see if this information is still valid. If it isn't then the records need to be updated.

↑Top of Page