Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.
This stuffed animal / plushy cicada nymph + molted cicada might be the best cicada gift ever. Why?? It is two cicadas in one! It is a nymph that unzips to reveal an adult cicada! The adult cicada is in its soft aka teneral state. Very detailed and thoughtful on the part of its creators. [ ]
First, of all, over on the Facebook page we shared Annette DeGiovine s 4th of July Magicicada image: Oh, I don t have a Facebook . I don t know what to tell you. Send your parents to Facebook and have them download the photo for you. I am not in love with the site either, but it allows [ ]
Magicicada periodical cicadas often emerge one or four years earlier or later than their main brood is expected to emerge. When they do, we call them precursors or stragglers (the most common name in scientific literature). This behavior is natural and expected, and how Magicicada have branched off into new broods over the millennia. This [ ]
Cicadas spend most of their lives tunneling through soil. Herkimer Diamonds doubly terminated quartz crystals are found in the soil of Herkimner, New York. Sometimes they re found together. Last weekend I met a Herkimer diamond prospector Just Herks at a local rock and mineral show. She had this photo of a cicada nymph [ ]
Update (6/10/2026): As much as I would love to say that there is a Brood XV in the Fanwood, New Jersey area, it appears that Magicicada cicadas appearing in 2026 are members of Brood II emerging 4-years early. We did find holes and exuvia (skins) in the Fanwood area (see iNaturalist), but no adult cicadas [ ]
Brood II, a brood of Magicicada found in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Virginia, is set to emerge in the year 2030, but some Brood II stragglers will emerge in 2026. Update (6/12/2026): Oklahoma (link to iNaturalist post) and Virginia (link to iNaturalist post) had enough emerge to [ ]
February The cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of Los Amigos Biostation, Peru with the description of a new species and three new records for Peru Highlight: The cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of Los Amigos Biostation, Peru are identified. Twenty-eight species representing 13 genera, three tribes, and two subfamilies were collected between August and December 2024. Guyalna protrudusa Sanborn [ ]
This is a list of research publications about cicadas in 2025. It is a work in progress. December The taxonomic position of the cicada genera Mura Distant, 1905 and Muraoides Sanborn, 2018 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) Highlight: Genera Mura and Muraoides are moved to a new tribe. Author: Allen F. Sanborn Publication information: Zootaxa. VOL. 5728 NO. [ ]
This is Part 3 of my 2025 Morning Cicada (Swamp Cicada, Neotibicen tibicen tibicen) review. These photos are of cicadas that have recently molted from their nymphal skins and are expanding and hardening their wings. Expanding wings, with a few wrinkles Wings hardening and folded against the cicadas s body. Interesting blue-green eye color Wings hardening [ ]
This is part 2 of 2025 Morning Cicada (Swamp Cicada, Neotibicen tibicen tibicen) photos. A cicada pushing its way out of its skin: The cicada out of its skin, beginning to inflate its wings. A hemolymph bubble on the cicada s wing. An injury that is usually not fatal. The cicada with every part but the [ ]