Cicada Journals July 10 to July 16, 2005
07/10/05 - Still no Cicada Sounds Here In Massachusetts.
Other than that one Tibicen canicularis I heard calling on July 5th. I haven't heard a single cicada call in the trees yet. Though the last two days it has been warm, the days prior to that were unusally cool. I've been working on studying the different morphologies in the Tibicen lyricen specimens I collected from St. Patrick Cemetery the last few days. I need to pace myself this year, don't want to have two many specimens on hand at any one time so I think I'm only gonna work with the ones I have until I get all my data caught up.
Yesterday, July 9th, I went to Shrewsbury, Northboro and Marlborough looking for Cicada specimens but I found no exuvia signs anywhere which is quite disappointing. Other than St. Patrick Cemetery, no where else have I found a decent supply of specimens. Though admittedly I'd find only one or two specimens in other areas last year.
I'm going to have dorsal and lateral views of all the specimens I have collected so far and you will be able to see slight variations in their morphology which I find very interesting. Stay tuned for more pics.
07/11/05 - Cicada Exuvia Found Today but No Live Specimens
11:00 am - I hit my usual spots at St. Patrick Cemetery today. It's sunny and in the 80's and it's supposed to reach 90 and humid. Heard one or two T. canicularis calls today but still no T. lyricens at all. I checked my normal spots for T. lyricen but didn't find a single specimen.
I did however find several new exuvia about the cemetery. These were obviously T. lyricen save for one which definately looked like T. canicularis. The beech tree had as many as 6 exuvia on it. This tree I found the T. lyricen specimen at night in the cemetery. This one tree may be a particular hot spot for T. lyricen so I will be monitoring it closely.
I
also found one exuvia on a White Birch tree which is something of a rarity
for around here. I think I remember finding only one on a White Birch tree
last year as well. I know that Tibicens cicadas like all kinds of hard wood
trees so its good to even find them from time to time on this type of tree.
White Birch is a common tree here in New England.
The
thumbnail to the right is a picture of an exuvia that I found on the side
of a maple tree today. I just snapped this one picture and kept on going.
I get bored with snapping pictures of just plain exuvia. I took this picture
home and when I looked at it, I noticed that it has something in between
it's forelegs which looks something like a chrysalis but I'm not sure. Click
on the image for a closer look.
I am amazed that I found no live specimens today as I am here at the same time as on July 7th when I found 7 T. lyricen specimens. Only difference is today is sunny and nice, then it was cloudy and cold and overcast.
07/12/05 - Tibicen lyricen Morphology - 101
Today, I'd like to discuss with you the different morphologies that I have noticed in these 7 specimens I collected back on July 4th and then again on July 7th. Even last year, the specimens of both Tibicen canicularis and Tibicen lyricen presented very different morphologies within a species. I hope to be able to quantify the different morphologies to a definitive set number. This might seem a bit naive put hey, you got to start somewhere right? This is one of the reasons why I like to collect specimens.
Please note that I have changed the name of the link in the Quick Navigation menu from Variations in Species to Morphologies in Tibicen Cicadas in order to better reflect the content that is on the page. (It's a search engine optimization kind of thing).
This page will grow to add the other popular Tibicen species here in Massachusetts, Tibicen canicularis.
07/13/05 - 11:00 am St. Patrick Cemetery - No Live Specimens Here
I found several exuvia again today at St. Patrick cemetery but no live specimens. There seems to be a mixture of both T. canicularis and T. lyricen though. I will have to check another area.
First Deformed Cicada found at Pine Crest Cemetery - Chelmsford
1:30pm - Seems to be a lot of exuvia here at Pine Crest cemetery. I found a total of 6 exuvia today. One was on a pine tree and several on different hardwood trees. Some of the exuvia were on the backs of Maple leaves.
I
also found a deformed T. lyricen today. Unfortunately it was still alive.
They can live for many hours like this all the while struggling in vane
to get free. When I took it home, even my girlfriend felt sorry for it and
she hates Cicadas. She asked me to euthanize it or try to get it out of
its skin. I told her it didn't work that way and that I would probably do
more damage to it. I told her that it wasn't like peeling a hard-boiled
egg and that it probably would never fly anyway.
You can read about my theories on why some Cicadas get deformed by reading the Cicada Deformities page.
What I'm going to do this year I think is try to find Cicada specimens from other places other than St. Patrick Cemetery in Lowell. While I don't intend on collecting more specimens, I may just keep them long enough to note any morphological peculiararities then release them.
07/14/05 - Finally hearing Tibicen lyricen Calling
10:45 am Middlesex Road Cemetery, North Chelmsford - Ok, I have to admit, up until this point I was really starting to get worried about the state of Tibicen lyricens here in Massachusetts but today at last I finally heard them calling, while there still isn't many it sure is a welcomed sign.
I went to this little cemetery thats right around the corner from my house on Middlesex road, it is so small and so old that I don't even see a sign for what the name of it is so I'm calling it "Middlesex Road Cemetery" it is right on the border between North Chelmsford and Lowell. Anyway, I found several exuvia in this little cemetery which is a good sign as last year I didn't really find any.
11:30
pm Pine Crest Cemetery, Chelmsford - Back here again today due
to finding many exuvia and that one deformed T. lyricen yesterday.
Today I found even more exuvia and an additional T. canicularis
(first one of the season) that is also deformed in the same way, it was
stuck inside its nymphal skin. Fortunately, this one was already expired.
Hearing more Tibicen lyricens today.
07/14/05 - The Fellas at Fairview Cemetery
1:30pm Fairview Cemetery, Westford - While driving back home, I decided to go a different route to see what there was to see and while driving through Westford, Ma. I noticed a rather large cemetery on the corner of Tadmuck road. I decided to pull in and have a look-see.
I'm finding more exuvia as the season wears on and this location is no exception. I found several exuvia on pine trees and hardwood trees. They seem to be a mixture of both T. lyricen and T. canicularis.
I
met 3 fellas that work for the town of Westford, Ma. Cemetery Department.
They take care of several cemeteries in Westford. They were interested in
why I was looking at the trees and I explained to them (as I have to with
everyone I meet) that I study Cicadas here in Massachusetts. They seemed
genuinely interested. So I showed them some specimens that I carry around
with me. It's kind of hard to explain what Cicadas look like if you don't
have any to show people.
We got on the subject of Cicada killers, a type of wasp that preys on Cicadas. The female Cicada killer after mating with a much smaller male will dig a burrow. Then, she will hunt for a Cicada and sting it (which only paralyzes it) then bring it back to her burrow. She will then lay one egg on the Cicada, when the egg hatches, the larva will feed on the live Cicada over the long winter. Depending upon the number of eggs a Cicada killer lays will depend upon the number of Cicadas she will need for her brood. Each egg getting one Cicada.
Anyway, the fellas said that another cemetery known as Pine Grove has Cicada killers every year. So much so that the residents are very afraid. Though from what I have read, they as a whole are not very agressive to humans. I will have to investigate this cemetery later on.
07/14/05 - A Night Visit to Pine Crest Cemetery
8:00 pm - OK, I've changed my tactics a little bit, this is only my second night visit for searching for Cicada specimens. I decided to go to Pine Crest Cemetery because I feel that I have had some decent luck here. Ok, so far no REAL specimens but I did find two Cicadas that failed to eclose properly. I'm very much interested in finding specimens in other areas.
The sun is almost setting at this time of day and the Tibicen lyricen cicadas are still calling in the trees. It is really humid outside and the mosquitos are loving it. I'm glad I brought my mosquito repellant or i'd be eaten alive. I did manage to find one Tibicen lyricen nymph climbing up an old maple tree. I decided to take this specimen home and let it molt in the terrarium along with the other specimens that I have collected so far. I'll have pictures for you in a day or so.
07/15/05 - Just Call Me "The Complaint Department."
12:00
PM - Pine Crest Cemetery - Chelmsford - With the success of finding
a Tibicen lyricen nymph last night, I'm back again to see if I
can find some more live specimens. Unfortunately, I didn't find any but
I am noticing a lot of exuvia on the headstones within the cemetery. It
makes me wonder if upon emerging from the ground if Cicadas can see all
that well. I mean after all, if you spend in some cases 3 - 9 years underground
during your long development in total darkness, it makes me wonder if you'd
be able to see. No wonder Cicada nymphs can eclose just about anywhere.
I wonder if they find places to molt by sense of feel as opposed to site.
Ok, as you know, yours truely walks around and looks at all the trees in cemeteries but from a bystander standing by I could be doing almost anything and I always get questions like "Are you looking for diseases?" "Does that tree need to be cut down?" things like that and I usually set people straight.
So I'm walking around doing my inspection of the trees and photographing insects of interest and this older woman pulls up beside me in her car.
"Do you work for the Cemetery?", she askd.
"No, I'm here doing research on a particular species of insect.",
I respond.
"Oh, because if you did work for the cemetery, I was going to complain."
"What seems to be the problem ma'am?"
"Well, the state of this cemetery, just look at it."
So I look around and I really see nothing wrong. To me everything is as it should be.
"I don't quite understand ma'am."
"Well, look at all the dead grass everywhere." "I had to
clean around my husbands grave and it took me a very long time." "I
just wish they would pick up the dead grass."
Instead of expousing the benefits of keeping dead grass on a freshly cut lawn which helps to keep moisture in during the day I decided to go a different route.
"Well, ma'am, I know the guys that work for the Chelmsford Town Cemetery department and I can tell you that there are several cemeteries in Chelmsford and there is only a small handfull of men for all the cemeteries."
"That may be true but there is no need to have the dead grass.",
she said.
"Well, I'm sure if the town of Chelmsford alotted more money in the
budgets to hire more men, I'm sure it could be taken care of but one can
only do so much with the money on hand." "I'm sure they are short
staffed."
And that was that, she was gone. I have met the guys from the Town of Chelmsford Cemetery department last year and they are all a bunch of good guys.
Ah, the trials and tribulations of studying Cicadas. I wonder what other adventures I'm going to get into today.
07/16/05 - First Tibicen canicularis Specimen Found Today
11:00 am - Fairview Cemetery - Westford. It's very hot and humid today. I decided to try my luck in this new location. Found many exuvia on a lot of trees and head stones. Tibicen canicularis and Tibicen lyricen are happily calling in the trees.
Right off the bat, I found a T. lyricen nymph just starting to eclose on a retaining wall. On this wall were several other exuvia. Since I'm trying to document the different morphologies this year in Tibicen canicularis and Tibicen lyricen cicadas, I decided that I would wait for the eclose process to complete before I take this specimen. This means that I have an hour-and-a-half at least to kill.
While searching other parts of the cemetery, I discovered another cicada nymph crawling up a headstone. This one is really small so I conclude that it is Tibicen canicularis. I decide to wait for this one to eclose at home. So I put in my trusty tray with the individual compartments. Once the Tibicen lyricen completed eclosing, I took both specimens home. The T. lyricen turned out to be a male.
When I took the nymph home it home it turned out to be a Tibicen canicularis female. I will photograph both these along with the other T. lyricen that I got from Pine Crest Cemetery and release the T. lyricens but keep the T. canicularis female as this is the first one of the season.
