Latest news with #Magicicada
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Where to Spot the 2025 Cicada Swarm—Is Your State on the List?
They're back! It's nearly time for periodical cicadas to emerge in parts of the U.S.. These striking-looking insects are worth learning about because—incredibly—they're found nowhere else in the world! Native to eastern North America, periodical cicadas are about an inch long with black bodies, orange-veined wings, and bright red eyes. They're called 'periodical' because they're synchronized developmentally so that most members of the population emerge in one year and then are absent in intervening years. Each year-class, or brood, is designated by a Roman numeral. This year, Brood XIV of the 17-year cicadas is emerging. 'Brood XIV has been hypothesized to be the Brood from which all other 17-year broods have been derived,' says Chris Simon, PhD, senior research scientist, department of ecology and evolutionary biology, at the University of Connecticut. 'It was the first brood documented by European colonists.' Periodical cicadas (Magicicada) can emerge in huge numbers, up to 1.5 million per acre, though densities of tens to hundreds of thousands per acre are more common. Depending on where you live, you may see a lot or none at all this year. 'Many areas where periodical cicadas live have been affected by human habitat clearing, and that's why they're so patchy,' says Simon. Read on to learn more about these harmless and fascinating insects: There are about 150 species of cicadas in the U.S., but only seven have synchronized development to create periodical emergences. The rest are annual cicadas, which we see every year, says Simon. There are three species with 17-year life cycles and four species with have 13-year life cycles. The 17-year species generally found in the North, while the 13-year species generally are found in the South and Midwest. Sometimes, cicadas get off-schedule and emerge a little early or a little late and are called 'stragglers.' After spending five juvenile stages underground for 13 or 17 years, the baby cicadas, or nymphs, tunnel to the surface, hang out on nearby plants for their final molt, wait for their exoskeletons to harden, and then start looking for love. The males begin their (loud!) calling songs. Once mated, the females lay their eggs in branches. The eggs hatch in six to ten weeks, the new nymphs fall to the earth, burrow underground and begin the wait for their emergence in 13 or 17 years. Periodical cicadas emerge when soil temperatures at a depth of 7 to 8 inches reach approximately 64°F, which can be any time from April to June, depending on where you live. Periodical cicadas tend to emerge earlier in southern and lower-elevation locations, says Simon. Once emerged, the adults live for about 4 weeks. The most likely places to see them this year include: Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Eastern Long Island from Deer Park to the William Floyd Parkway; parts of Central Pennsylvania; southwest Ohio; Southeast Indiana, and scattered throughout West Virgininia, Kentucky and TN (but not in the Mississippi Valley; Southwest Virginia, western North Carolina; and North Georgia, North Georgia. No. Cicadas are not locusts, which are a serious agricultural pest in some parts of the world. The inaccurate term 'locust' was first used in the English colonies in 1715, when people compared the emergences with Biblical plagues and the fact the John the Baptist ate locusts. Nope! They do not bite or sting and are not toxic, says Simon. Cicadas also are not known to transmit disease. They may startle you if they accidentally land on you or your pet. But if approached, a cicada just flies away. If handled, both males and females struggle to fly, and males make a loud but harmless buzzing sound. Probably not. Newly-emerged cicadas may hang out on garden plants, such as annuals and perennials, but they'll soon move up into the trees, where females pierce small branches to insert their eggs, says Simon. Fortunately, the damage to trees usually is minor, says Simon. The only exception is very young trees, which may not be able to sustain the same level of injury as established trees. If you have a small or newly-transplanted tree you're concerned about, use netting or cheese cloth to cover it during the emergence. It's not recommended. Even if your dog or cat ingests just a few, there's a choking risk due to the crunchy exoskeletons. And pets that overdo it may experience GI upset, abdominal pain, and vomiting and diarrhea. If you catch your pet noshing on these insects, call your vet ASAP if you have concerns. Help scientists map the emergence by using free mapping apps such as Cicada Safari or iNaturalist. Or simply enjoy this marvelous natural spectacle, especially with your kids! As for the crunchy husks left behind, sweep them up, compost them or leave them for nature to decompose. Then wait for another 13 or 17 years for the next big cicada event! You Might Also Like 70 Impressive Tiny Houses That Maximize Function and Style 30+ Paint Colors That Will Instantly Transform Your Kitchen
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Massive sex-crazed insects are spotted in wild again after 17-year slumber... and will cause chaos across dozens of states
Enormous red-eyed cicadas are set to swarm a dozen states this spring for a sex-filled rampage after emerging for the first time in 17 years. Trillions of Brood XIV cicadas, the second-largest kind of the eerie-looking insect, are creeping up from their underground hideouts with the sole purpose of mating before they croak. There are more than 3,000 species of cicadas that form 15 periodical broods - known as Magicicada - that pop up across eastern North America. Broods do not refer to a specific species, moreso a group that emerges at the same time. Three of those broods are on 13-year cycles and 12 that spawn on 17-year cycles, according to the US Forest Service. They differ from annual cicadas, which appear every summer. While burrowing underground, the nymphs simply eat and grow until it is finally their time to shine, digging holes to make their way to the surface. Brood XIV cicadas are the group that all other Magicicada stemmed from over the past 10,000 years, Senior Research Scientist and cicada expert Dr. Chris Simon of UConn told In fact, they were the very first brood to be written about by colonists in the New World, Simon said. The influx of these mother-of-all periodic cicadas is set to hit several states in mid-May, but sightings of this brood have been reported since mid-to-late April. These approximately one and three-quarters big bugs were first spotted in North Carolina and Tennessee, according to reports through the Cicada Safari app, developed by Dr. Gene Kritsky, an entomologist at Mount St. Joseph University in Ohio. Cicada Safari was developed for keen insect observers to document where they see periodically-appearing cicadas. According to Cicada Mania, a website also created by Kritsky, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia are the states that have to brace for the great cicada come-back. Although the black and orange bug may look intimidating to those with insect aversions, they are no threat at all, Simon assured. 'They are harmless, they don't bite or sting,' she wrote to She said they can only damage small trees by laying eggs, but this can be addressed by placing nets over weak-branched saplings. The non-dangerous insects are at the very least annoying to some cicada critics, as the bugs have to sing to mate, creating a distinct buzzing sound that rings through spring and summer nights. Male cicadas of all three groups of Magicicada - decula, cassini and decim - sing different tunes to lure in prospective partners four or five days after surfacing, Simons explained. Two or three weeks into above-ground living, cicada couples get to mating in trees before females lay eggs in the third and fourth weeks. Cicadas only live for about four to six weeks above ground, meaning they die shortly after they mate - leaving behind eggs of cicadas expected to repeat the cycle in 2042. However, a genital-destroying fungus that has plagued every brood population has ramped up cicadas' sex drives and turned them into 'zombies.' 'It is generally prevalent in every brood (five to 10 percent of the population or more) but is mainly obvious in the last two weeks of the emergence,' Simon explained. Massospora cicadina, a deadly fungus that only targets periodical cicadas, essentially replaces the insects' genitals with a block of fungus. It consumes the creature's abdomen, genitals and buttocks - replacing them with fungal spores. Once the fungus is in charge, it directs the infected male to perform the female mating ritual by flicking its wings, attracting other males and spreading the infection like an STD. 'It is quite ingenious and technically is a sexually transmitted disease,' Smithsonian Entomologist and Collections Manager Floyd Shockley previously told the Cathinone, a stimulant found in the fungus, is known to hyper-sexualize cicadas. 'It's sex, drugs and zombies,' John Cooley, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut told Scientific American about the bizarre and unsettling fungus. 'Nature is stranger than any science fiction that's ever been written.' The infection begins as the nymphs make their journey to the surface, climbing through spores in the ground. 'While males and females can be infected equally, the fungus produces a hallucinogenic compound that results in a change in infected males,' said Shockley. 'They are thrown into a sexual overdrive and respond to mating calls of males and will flick their wings like females receptive to mating. 'By doing so, they can infect males and females alike…and they are tricked into doing so as much as they can for as long as they can before they ultimately succumb to the fungus and die.' This year's invasion should not be as bad as last year 's, when a trillions of the red-eyed bugs infested the nation in a 200-year event known as the cicada 'apocalypse'. For the first time since the 19th century, two different broods of cicada emerged across more than a dozen states, mating and laying millions more eggs. The groups were 17-year Brood XIII and 13-year Brood XIX, also known as the Great Southern Brood, which is the largest of them all. Kritsky told at the time: 'The dual emergence is a one in two or three lifetime event. 'This happens 12 times every 221 years, but this is the first time since 1803 that these broods will emerge together.'
Boston Globe
07-05-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
They're baaack! After 17 years underground, Brood XIV cicadas are suddenly emerging.
Advertisement Since I'm not an entomologist, I reached out to Christine Simon, a senior research scientist at the University of Connecticut's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, to help me understand these interesting bugs. She's been studying Magicicada, aka periodical cicadas, since 1974, and this will be her fourth time studying the emergence of this brood. Part of the order Hemiptera, these unique and sometimes misunderstood insects are part of a large group known as 'true bugs.' While you may refer to things crawling around your house as a bug, true bugs have, among other characteristics, two pairs of wings, and beak-like mouth parts made for sucking fluids from plants or animals. Advertisement Periodical cicadas that emerge every 17 years in about a dozen areas in the US. Gene Kritsky Also unlike other insects, all true bugs must go through what is called 'incomplete metamorphosis,' which means they hatch as nymphs from their egg on tree branches. Think of a nymph as a miniature version of the adult bug, a sort of 'mini-me.' True bugs include cicadas, grasshoppers, stink bugs, and bed bugs, to name a few. Mosquitoes may bug you, but they are not true bugs. The second largest group of periodic cicadas in the US, Brood XIV will really start to emerge the third week of May. They can emerge in the thousands, but these are not some biblical plague of locusts, despite all of the misinformation out there. As they head into the trees, they won't be swarming because they actually don't move very far from where they emerge. 'Honeybees swarm. These just happen to be in large numbers,' said Gene Kritsky, an author of cicada books and professor emeritus in biology at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. 'They generally come out in the evening just after dark,' said Simon. 'The emergence can take place every night for a week, with males more common at the beginning of the week and females more common near the end of the week. If it's cold and rainy that week, the emergence can be drawn out.' Cicadas of Brood XIV from a previous year. Gene Kritsky A couple of other things about these bugs you should know: They are not menacing. They don't sting or bite humans. If you look at their bulging red eyes, they're actually kind of cute. They also are not dangerous to plants and trees. After they emerge, they will lay their eggs in trees, and there can be some minor damage, like any other insect does to foliage during the summer. The cicadas die three to four weeks later. Advertisement For those of you in areas where these cicadas are emerging, this is an opportunity to be a citizen scientist and provide valuable information to researchers. According to Simon, this year there will be various people out mapping throughout the range of Brood XIV. Kritsky developed the Observations and the study of the periodic cicada have a lengthy history. Kritsky said the Brood XIV cicadas were documented as far as back as 1770 in Cape Cod and in 1634 in Plymouth. In 1834, Gideon B. Smith is, according to the University of Maryland, credited with identifying the cycle of the 17-year cicada or brood, the very one emerging this year! He reportedly studied cicadas from 1817 until he died in 1867. He was friends with John James Audubon, the American ornithologist.. One of the images that I couldn't help get out of my head was the fact that, like the entire insect population of the world, these guys are under pressure, especially from humans. Seventeen years ago, these Magicicada cicadas hatched from eggs in trees and made their way down into the ground where they spent all these years maturing. One of the problems is that parking lots and buildings have replaced some of these trees and smothered the insects alive. I just couldn't help feeling bad for these little creatures. Advertisement Finally, if you are wondering how climate change might be affecting these periodical bugs, the answers are still a bit unclear. One hypothesis is that a warming climate can cause the various broods to emerge ahead of schedule due to a longer growing season, more feeding time in the ground, and a faster move through the various underground stages. What we do know is that after the cicadas have mated and laid their eggs, the next generation of Brood XIV is scheduled to emerge in 2042. Where might we all be when that happens?
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NJ, 12 other states set for cicada invasion this summer. Here's what to expect
New Jersey is set to have one of its noisiest summers in 17 years. There's a loud and noisy swarm of insects coming. And this year the group of insects with long life cycles called periodical cicada Brood XIV (14) — will emerge in the millions and be making a buzz in 13 states. Brood XIV is the second largest periodical cicada brood after Brood XIX and is larger than Brood X. According to a Cicada Mania, these specific Magicicadas will begin to emerge sometime in May and June when the soil beneath the ground reaches 64 degrees. Here's what to know about the swarm coming to New Jersey: Periodical cicadas insects with long life cycles that live underground that emerge in periodic mass emergences, striking appearance, and noisy behaviors. There are seven species — four with 13-year life cycles and three with 17-year cycles. The three 17-year species are generally northern in distribution, while the 13-year species are generally southern and midwestern, according to There are 13 states that will et loud this spring. Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, according to a USAToday report. All three 17-year species, Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini and Magicicada septendecula will emerge in Atlantic, Camden, Ocean counties and these cities: Linwood Manchester Township Winslow Township All periodical cicadas of the same life cycle that emerge in the same year are known collectively as a single 'brood' (or 'year-class'). They emerge on a common schedule, according to Periodical cicadas are grouped into geographic broods based on the calendar year they emerge and are assigned a Roman numeral. In 1898 30 different broods were discovered Once they hatch they burrow underground, where different broods like Brood XIXwill dwell for 13 years and Brood XIII will dwell for 17 years until they reappear as adults. Sounds that are similar to sirens or cat-calling is they way the males attract the females cicadas. According to the clicking sound we hear at night that can be soothing or annoying is the when the male cicadas produces a sound from their tymbal organ. The frequency of the contractions of the tymbal muscle range from 120 to 480 times a second, which is fast enough to make it sound continuous to the human ear. These are the congregational songs, in which males synchronize their calls that establish territory and attract females. The broods that produced the loudest songs are periodical ones that are emerging this year. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Cicada brood 2025: 17-year cicadas in Ocean County NJ this summer
