Cicada Journals August 19, 2004 to August 23, 2004
8/19/04 - More Cicadas Found at St. Patrick Cemetery - Lowell, MA.
8:15 AM - I find a newly emerged Cicada on one of the Ash trees I have been visiting a lot lately. This Ash tree is the tree where I discovered my first 2 T. lyricen Cicadas of the year and the one that Mickey said was diseased.
No deformities on this T. canicularis. I find 2 others on a pine tree. I noticed one Cicada on a Maple tree that failed to emerge from the shell properly. It's head is missing. I noticed that a wasp landed on it and seemed to be taking pieces away.
Unfortuately I forgot to snap a picture of this. My apologies.
8/20/04 - Deformed Cicadas, Nymphs and Other Insects at St. Patrick Cemetery - Lowell, MA.
1:00 pm - It's a real hot and humid day today. Too hot to stay inside so I head to St. Patrick Cemetery. Even though it's late I am hopeful.
I go to the Oak tree where I discovered a nymph around this same time of day a few days ago. I see a partially emerged Cicada that looks like it is having problems. It looks like it is not positioned at enough of an angle at the base of the tree to emerge properly. Another possibility is that it may be stuck inside it's nymph shell because it is unable to free it's wing buds. This isn't the first time I have seen this happen though from this angle it looks like both wing buds are stuck whereas i the past I've only seen one wing stuck and not both.
I decide to leave it and check other areas. I also like to photograph other insects sometimes. Especially if I can note some unusual behavior.
The first is of two different species of flies that seem to be locked in a struggle. The more dominant black fly is what's known as a predatory Robber Fly. It has pinned the smaller fly and is sucking the life juices from it. It looked like the Robber Fly was slamming the smaller fly against the head stone when I snapped this picture. (second thumbnail from the top)
The image of the wasp is stinging this caterpillar larva which it will then carry off to lay eggs on. The hatched wasp larvae will then eat the caterpillar. I was only able to snap one picture because the wasp flew off rather quickly when I got close. (third thumbnail from the top)
I discover a nymph crawling up the side of a head stone. I take this specimen. I search some of my favorite areas to see if I can find other Cicadas but I find none.
Lately, I have been looking at low-hanging branches in the hopes of spotting female Cicadas ovipositing. I even closely inspect areas of these branches that contain dead leaves hoping to find the tell-tale sign of slits indicating that eggs have been deposited. So far nothing.
Admittedly, I am now expecting to find dead Cicadas on the ground as the Cicada season is getting on a bit but I ham finding none.
T. lyricen is still singing in the trees but I have yet to find a specimen so I think that the season may be over for them and what remains in the trees will soon be dying off.
I decide to head back to the Oak tree that has the stuck Cicada. I am sorry to report that some black ants have gotten to it and have started to eat it while it's still alive. It seems interesting that they start with the two big compound eyes first.
The remaining thumbnails are of the nymph that I obtained on the headstone molting. It ended up being yet another female.
8/20/04 - Ovipositing T. canicularis at Home - No. Chelmsford, MA.
3:00 pm - I started a terrarium in my home in order to put my newly acquired Cicada specimens in. I wanted to be able to study them in a more natural environment and also I hoped to note any unusual behavior. I got the terrarium; which is really an acquarium, through ebay second-hand. It cost 75 bucks and includes the filters and top light and everything. Not bad considering that a new one goes for about 125 bucks.
Anyway, I am happy to report that one of the females started to oviposit in a lilac branch that I have sitting in a mason jar full of water. Usually the Cicada specimens like to tap the Xylem on this branch to feed.
Unfortunately, prior to her ovipositing I did not notice if she mated with any of the males that I have also contained within the terrarium. I did notice one of the male Cicadas in the terrarium yesterday had died but whose to say?
After the female laid her eggs which took about an hour, I studied her closely but she seems fine. I was under the impression that Cicada females die shortly after ovipositing in a branch. I could not watch her the whole time because I needed to pick up my fiance Kim at work. Maybe she will be dead by the time I get back.
It will be hard however to identify which female specimen it was that laid the eggs then died. I will probably have to check the branches very carefully in order to see if other females have laid eggs. I wanted to take the female that laid the eggs out of the container and confine her after she laid the eggs to see how long it took her to die but I just didn't have time.
Since I wasn't sure of the viability of the eggs I decided to disect the branch in order to see if I could discover the eggs within. I was able to recover several. They are about the same length as a grain of rice but only narrower. Click the thumbnails to the left.
08/23/04 - Near Disaster Averted at St. Patrick Cemetery - Lowell, MA.
9:30 pm - There were many loud and violent thunderstorms that rolled through my area over the last few days so there wasn't much going on in the way of Cicada hunting. Finally though, tonight I have a chance to make it out of the house.
When I arrived at St. Patrick Cemetery, there were tons of small downed branches everywhere due to the storm. I made my normal rounds. It's a warm night and also humid as hell. I noticed a small T. canicularis on a downed branch at the base of one of my favorite Ash trees. Naturally, I forget my friggin' camera again to take pictures.
I decide to leave this Cicada as it has just settled down to molt. I'm after only nymphs this evening for my new terrarium.
I visit another of my favorite Ash trees and what do I discover for the very fist time? A Walking Stick insect! It was hanging on the side of the Ash tree and me without my camera!! Man, this thing was long and narrow and really strange looking. It looked exactly like a stick.
I cursed myself for not having my camera. No problem, i'll just put it in a specimen jar, I can take nice closeup pictures at home. But, how do I get it in the jar? I've never handled a Walking Stick insect before. Do they bite? I suspect not but I sure don't want to find out.
I decided to play it safe and try to coax it onto a stick that I found conveniently on the ground. My plan was to transfer it from the stick to the jar. It looks too wide when the legs are factored in to just put the mouth of the jar over it.
I tried to get it on the stick but it dropped to the ground. Apparently it wanted no part of the stick I was carrying. It was so thin that when it fell, I lost sight of it. Dammit!! That thing was cool. I looked on the ground for 15 minutes in the hopes of seeing it crawling around but it was too dark and my light wasn't bright enough so I lost it.
I continue my nymph hunt and I find 2 nymphs, probably T. canicularis on a pine tree. I put them in my divider tray and carry on. I'm seeing tons of molting Cicadas, mostly on pine trees but some are on Maple, Oak and Ash as well.
The majority again seem to be females. I find another nymph on an Ash tree. I walk around for about an hour. I see additional molting Cicadas. I look in the tray several times. One Cicada is on it's back. It looks to me like it's playing dead. Not a problem, I've seen this behavior before. The other 2 nymphs are trying to walk on the slick plastic bottom with no luck. They keep slipping.
Remember, Cicadas won't molt unless they have some place to anchor their legs.
After another 15 minutes I find another nymph on a Maple tree bordering the roadway. I grab it and decide to head home.
Damn!! My theory just went out the window!! What theory is that you ask? Well the one where I mentioned that Cicada nymphs won't molt if they can't anchor their legs.
Apparently the nymph that I thought was playing dead actually started to molt right in the tray. By the time I got back to the car it had it's head out. Damn, damn, DAMN!! It isn't going to make it unless I do something fast.
Since it was partially emerged, the abdomen part of the nymph shell was empty. I decided to grasp and hold the Cicada by the empty nymph shell abdomen. This seemed to work.
I drove home holding the Cicada in my left hand while steering the car with my right. I was afraid that if I went over a bump that the Cicada may spill out of the nymph shell. But fortunately, this didn't happen.
By the time I got home, the Cicada was hanging out of the nymph shell almost up-side-down. I walked up the stairs slowly so as not to cause any sudden movements. I showed Kim the Cicada and explained to her what happened and what was currently happening. She was so grossed out by the partially emerged pink Cicada that she was almost sick.
I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures.
Now I had a real dilema. How could I put this Cicada somewhere and tend to the other 3 nymphs still in the tray? After all, this Cicada still had at least 45 minutes to an hour left to complete the molt process. I surely didn't want the others to decide that they should molt in the tray as well. Then I'd really have a problem.
All-of-a-sudden the idea lightbulb went on in my head. You may or may not know but I also collect Japanese robot toys. To the rescue came my 1984 Votoms Scopedog. A toy manufactured by Takara of Japan in 1984.
I noticed that the toy is holding a gun in it's hand. Since the Cicada was still virtually hanging up-side-down, I knew that soon it would right itself in order to grasp it's nymph shell, then pull the rest of it's abdomen out of the shell to allow it's wings to expand. Instead of allowing the Cicada to grasp the shell, I would force it to grab the thin section of the toy gun instead when it righted itself.
Slowly and carefully I put the Cicada underneath the toy gun that my Votoms Scopedog toy is holding. I started to panic when the Cicada had brief trouble grasping the gun because of the smooth plastic.
It did work however. Instead of grabbing it's own nymph shell to pull itself out it grabbed the gun without a problem. Check the picture sequence to the left by clicking on the thumbnails. This female T. canicularis came out just fine.
I checked the other three nymphs still in the tray. All three still have not molted. Over an hour had passed since I retrieved them from the cemetery. I placed them on a live Lilac branch that I had in the new terrarium. All 4 of these Cicadas completed the molt process just fine and were female, no males at all.
I was unable to get pics of the nymphs in the terrarium due to flash back from my camera's flash.
