Cicada Journals June 1st 2007 - Brood XIII

06/01/07 - Brood XIII found in Indiana!!

Well, it took quite a while and I had to go a long way "off the beatin' path" as it were but I did manage to have some success in finding Brood XIII in Indiana.

I found a small park many miles outside Valparaiso, Indiana called "Stony Run County Park" In LeRoy Indiana. It is part of the Lake County parks system. This place was approximately 10 miles off of Route 30 west in Indiana. It took me around 20 minutes to get there. But I was surprised when I got there. Upon exiting my car I heard way off in the distance the erie call of M. septendecim. As I moved closer to a large wooded area the sound got louder and louder.

I was disappointed however when I discovered that only small patches of woods were covered with the Magicicadas which seemed to have all three species. That is M. septendecim, M. cassini and M. septendecula of which M. septendecim was the predominant calling species then M. cassini and while I did manage to find an M. septendecula specimen, I heard none calling.

Magicicada septendecim Erie Call

Click here to watch a short video to hear the call of M. septendecim. They kind of sound like a bunch of hovering UFO's. You can also hear mixed in the call of M. cassini.

Below are some thumbnails that link to larger pictures of the Magicicadas at Stony Run County Park in Indiana. Enjoy.

Small Populations in Crown Point, Indiana

After driving around Crown Point for about an hour, I found an area in a neighborhood that covered perhaps 2 city blocks that had Magicicada (mostly M. cassini). I managed to snag a male specimen of M. cassini also. What was really interesting was that the 4H Fairgrounds of Crown Point which contained huge well established trees in a nicely landscaped park and was on the next block over contained virtually no calling Magicicadas.

M. cassini Calling Chorus

One of the really interesting things about Magicicadas is that a particular species has a tendancy to come together in a tree or a bush and then manage to call in unison in the hopes of attracting a vast number of females. This perhaps also helps in confusing predators because there is no way to pinpoint just one.

Click here to listen to all these M. cassini calling in a single tree.

Next Stop, Illinois

It looks like I picked the worst time to drive from Crown Point Indiana to Deerfield Illinois. I mean I had to drive through Chicago on a Friday during the height of rush-hour. It was very slow going but I finally got here. I've already found a great spot in Northbrook that seems to be crawing with Magicicada. For now, enjoy the nice photo of the Chicago skyline.