Hello anyone! I am looking for cicada casing - BIG ones! A lady from our Senior Center vacationed in Tulsa OK recently and brought back casings/shells from what to me was a huge bug of some sort. They are over an inch in length and out worldly looking. Not from the PNW! I took them to a Senior Center Fair today and displayed them in our Master Gardener booth as an "eye catcher", hoping for an ID. Several people ID them as cast off cicada casings. One gentleman said he used to play with them as a kid in the midwest, but ours were little ones. (Is this possible?) The ones he remembers were 2-3 inches long. I want some Big ones so that the next customer that complains of big, ugly bugs here in Washington can get a look at a really big, ugly bug. Our biggest bugs are probably preying mantis or some beetles. Some of our aggressive house spiders can be very intimidating but usually harmless, even if described as hissing and lunging. Even our snakes are benign. I want something really spectacular to show people. "How would you like to find THIS in your garden"! I'll gladly pay postage to anyone that can send me some impressive casings. Yes, I'm old and ornery, but still have a sense of humor. ;)))) barb
Dang nabbit! I just deposited one I found on my front step in the trash can. Trash day was Thursday! Will keep my eyes open for any I discover whilst clearing out my garden. Also have seen them hanging on trees. Sure, Barb, there are 2500 species of cicada---annual, 17-year, etc. We have the big 'uns here in Ohio, and the noise they make is ear-splitting. Here is an article on the subj. from my local newspaper: http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...march-to-beat-of-their-own-loud-drumming.html
Do they really get 2-3 inches long? I am totally fascinated by these critters. I mistakenly left my two samples out on my desk last night and the new 6 mo old kitten evidently thought they were play toys so now their legs are stubs. Thank you for any help. The article and emerging pics were a once-in-a-lifetime shot. :0 Barb
Oh yes they are that big! Take a look at this photo: http://bugguide.net/node/view/127847 Bug Guide is a GREAT site.
I know this is an old thread, but I thought I would add this link as there have been a few postings recently about Cicadas. An interesting watch!!!
More news on the Cicadas today. The Washington Post: Fall is prime tree planting season, but what about next spring’s cicada eruption?. https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...7d4488-f381-11ea-b796-2dd09962649c_story.html
And now they have arrived in NSW Australia in large numbers. ABC News: Cicadas having 'bumper season', leaving ears ringing and communities deafened. Cicadas so loud the locals struggle to hear their coffee orders
A new brood for 2021 for the US is forecast. CBS News: What is Brood X, the U.S. cicada infestation coming in 2021?. What is Brood X, the U.S. cicada infestation coming in 2021?
NSW Australia now having a plague as they are calling it of Cicadas. Looks like 2021 will be the year for these visitors from underground. 9News: Cicada plague inundates NSW in record numbers. Cicada plague inundates NSW in record numbers
Well, wouldn't you know? I had never heard of Cicadas in my corner of the world but, apparently, there is more than one annual species that can be found in the southern Okanagan and maybe here on the BC coast. Not nearly so dramatic as species found elsewhere but at least we're on the map! I'll be researching this further you can be sure but I'm wondering if those 'crickets' I was telling you about back in September may possibly have been cicadas? Except that cicadas reportedly sing in the day and my insects were serenading me in late afternoon and evening . . . Are Crickets Territorial? E-Fauna BC Atlas Page (src: AtlasAccordian) This annual species of cicada is found in North America from Oregon and Utah north to British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2012). It is one of nine species of Cicada found in British Columbia, and the only one found on Vancouver Island (Hamilton pers. comm. 2012). Cannings and Scudder (2005) describe it as the commonest species of cicada found in British Columbia: "Found on south-east Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and in the dry interior, it can often be heard singing during the day in midsummer from some lofty perch, often in a conifer." This is more interesting than any mystery novel on the best-sellers list. :-)
This is more interesting than any mystery novel on the best-sellers list. :-) Couldn't agree more @Margot, looking at what is happening in other countries I'm expecting the Cicada to make an appearance in the New Forest England in 2021, but you never know with these creatures. Always a mystery indeed!!!
So it looks like 2021 is going to the the year for the Cicada return according to this article for Tennessee. WTVC: 'Total invasion' Swarm of 17-year Cicadas projected to emerge in Tennessee this year. 'Total invasion' Swarm of 17-year Cicadas projected to emerge in Tennessee this year
More information with maps and amazing photos just came through this morning. Looks like its going to be a noisy May.... Daily Mail: Trillions of noisy cicadas are set to emerge this spring after hiding hibernating for 17 years. Trillions of noisy cicadas are set to emerge this spring after hiding hibernating for 17 years | Daily Mail Online
The ground is getting warmer by the day and so the Cicada is getting ready to wake up. AccuWeather | Local, National, & Global Weather: ‘Big brood’ of cicadas set to emerge from soil for first time since 2004. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weat...-to-swarm-15-states-this-spring-summer/910513
They are about to emerge in the US as the ground warms up to 64°C.. But there is no chance of that happening in the UK anytime soon, as it is Sooo very cold and the Cicada's will stay fast asleep. CBS News: Trillions of cicadas are about to emerge after 17 years underground. Trillions of cicadas are about to emerge after 17 years underground
On CBC website, too I didn’t know it’s a male chorus https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/cicadas-brood-x-1.6014406
Only days away it looks like Georgia. The ground must be warm enough now. And yes, as in a lot in nature, it's the male that makes the most noise.... lol.
Now this was something I would never have thought about tbh. But as we know, teenagers are susceptible to very high pitch sounds that adults cannot here. So the sound of the Cicadas affecting people with Autism is not far fetched at all. https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-new...e-impact-on-people-with-autism-sensory-issues
Can you imagine walking around in this. But it is being advertised in the US to protect oneself from the swarms. My wife and I have hats with nets to protect ourself from the dreaded midges in Scotland. But this might be a step too far... How can you protect yourself from cicadas
Here is a great article and video to watch on these little darlings. https://www-wired-com.cdn.ampprojec...g-with-cicada-biologists-so-you-dont-have-to/
I grew up in Ohio. Cicadas emerge every summer in small numbers, but some years the periodic emergence is massive. I recall my family taking me outside when for my first experience of this. I was 4. It was like a fog of insects and they were big. They were flying here and there and making a loud sound I might describe as a metalic buzz. At first I was delighted and started to chase them, but then I stepped on one with my bare feet. It was squishy and sticky. I think I started to cry and ran back in the house. My family laughed, I sort of did too. For a whole different story on the insects: A Fungus Is Pushing Cicada Sex Into Hyperdrive And Leaving Them Dismembered : NPR
The things that stick in our minds from a very young age is quite remarkable, just like the Cicada is an amazing story of nature. Great story and article Eric.
For some of us, the thought of biting into a cicada, six legs and all, is revolting. But many other animals, from dogs to fish to raccoons, pounce at the chance to snack on these winged insects, and they are eagerly digging in as billions of Brood X cicadas erupt across parts of the eastern US and Midwest. These dogs, birds, and squirrels are stuffing their faces with Brood X cicadas Here in central Ohio, we await. After an unusually cool, emergence-delaying spring, the summer switch has been flipped to the ON position: in the past week daytime temps have soared to near 90F. Not long now! Cicadas are living cat toys, too. ^..^
A great posting @togata57, I do hope you can get some photos when they emerge in your area. It is quite a spectacle. We get them here in the New Forest here in Southern England, but nowhere near the quantities you get in the US.
