Cicada Journals May 29th to May 30th 2008 - Brood XIV

05/29/08 - Various Brood XIV Updates

First Report From Long Island, NY

Today, I got a report from the Report Brood XIV Periodical Cicadas that Long Island is finally starting to see the Periodical Cicadas emerging. Like Massachusetts, finally the Pink and Yellow Pips noted on the map can be changed to Red. I suspect as time goes on we'll be getting in more reports.

The Massachusetts Distribution Map Has Been Broken Out!

I decided in order to save you the time of zooming in on Massachusetts, I separated it out from the main Brood XIV distribution map. While you can still see the entire distribution range of Brood XIV for this year on the previous map (see link to the left), you can also look at a "zoomed in" version of only Cape Cod also available on the left or just click here.

White-eyed Nymph found in Forestdale, Ma.

Thanks to Kit who sent in a photo of a white-eyed Cicada nymph found several days ago. Kit is going to try to bring it to a full adult cicada. Hopefully it will have White eyes. Click the thumbnails below for some nice closeup shots supplied by Kit.

Finally, I'll end this update with a cool shot of Lisa's adult Magicicada previously reported as well as a shot of Lisa and myself from Memorial Day weekend. That species of cicada on my T-shirt is known as Tibicen bermudiana. It was endemic to Bermuda and went extinct when Bermuda's Cedar forests were wiped out.

05/30/08 - Today's Survey of Cape Cod.

Today, I returned to Cape Cod to see what there was to see. I headed east on 6A and stopped at a place known as Murkwood Conservation Lands in East Sandwich. I walked around along the trails for a while but spotted no signs whatsoever. Some parts of Sandwich may be cicada free. I had an idea that I wanted to spend time at Hyannis Ponds Wildlife management area which can be reached via Mary Dunn Road in Hyannis.

I spent a lot of time here. I'm glad I brought my mountain bike again. It sure saves time when trying to cover large areas. I did find signs of cicadas here. Emergence holes, some nymphs and mud turrets but I did not find any exuvia or adults. I did notice however, that the nymphs are now a darker brown and even some were sporting the black patches on the pronotum (area behind the red eyes). This is a sure sign that at least in this area, the cicadas are just getting ready to come out of their holes.

I did take the time to snap this cool photo of a Pink Lady's Slipper (you were right Lisa, I was wrong!). I do not see these where I live in Northern Massachusetts but you never know they could be here. They are all over the place on the Cape.

Many Tenerals Reported in Mashpee.

This morning my good friend Lisa posted to the Entomology-Cicadidae group that she spotted many tenerals and skins scattered throughout her neighborhood. I phoned her when I was through with Hyannis Ponds WMA and asked if I could swing by in the hopes of finding some live specimens. Unfortunately, when I arrived (around 2:30 pm) the only thing we managed to find were Magicicada wings and exuvia all over the place. There was no calling.

Whatever emerged - judging by the many Magicicada wings found - were being eaten by predators. Hopefully there will be enough Magicicadas to satiate predators which is a key methodology that all Periodical cicadas employ to ensure the survival of their species. Only time will tell I guess.

I surveyed the woods behind Lisa's house in Mashpee. It is a vast area with many paths. I did find lots of signs here. While walking along a path, I managed to find a cicada nymph still inside it's emergence hole right on the path, out in the open just waiting. Using my cool new Nikon I managed to snap some extreme closeup pictures. I resampled them in order for you to download, so check them out.