Arthropods Codexery

Periodical cicadas

Synchronized emergences every 13 or 17 years.

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Nearly all individuals in a local population emerge synchronously in the same year, a phenomenon called periodical emergence.[1] Their mass emergences can reach densities over 1.5 million individuals per acre.[2] The seven species within the genus Magicicada, which are exclusive to eastern North America, have life cycles that last either 13 or 17 years.[3]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. CladePancrustacea
  4. ClassInsecta
  5. OrderHemiptera
  6. SuborderAuchenorrhyncha
  7. FamilyCicadidae
  8. GenusMagicicada

Named by W. T. Davis, 1925

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Periodical cicadas (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Type species
Magicicada septendecim

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

The term periodical cicada refers to seven Magicicada species, three with 17-year cycles and four with 13-year cycles.[1][4] These insects spend about 99.5% of their lives underground as nymphs feeding on xylem fluids from tree roots.[5] The winged adults have red compound eyes, a black dorsal thorax, and translucent wings with orange veins.[6] Males form large choruses and produce species-specific calling songs to attract females.[7]

After mating, females oviposit into pencil-sized twigs, which can cause flagging but rarely harms mature trees.[8] The earliest published account of periodical cicadas appeared in a 1666 issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.[9] Entomologist Charles Lester Marlatt assigned Roman numerals to 30 broods in 1907, though only 15 broods are known to survive today.[10][11] Between late April and early June, depending on latitude, mature nymphs that have completed their 13th or 17th year of development emerge from the ground in a synchronized fashion.[5]

Depending on the species, adult periodical cicadas measure between 2.4 and 3.3 cm in length, and mature females are a bit bigger than mature males.[12]

What the cited sources add

The "General Periodical Cicada Information" source notes that the earliest known Lamotialnini fossils date to 8.5-8.0 million years ago in present-day France.[3] The same source states that periodical cicada emergences occur when soil temperatures at 7-8 inches reach approximately 64°F.[3] The Cicada Mania source reports that of the 13 possible 13-year broods, only three exist (XIX, XXII, XXIII) and one is extinct (XXI).[13] The "Cicadas - The Rise of Brood X" source describes Brood X as the most concentrated and largest brood of any 17-year cicada.[14]

The Science Daily article explains that the fungus Massospora manipulates male cicadas into flicking their wings like females to infect other males.[15] The "General Periodical Cicada Information" source mentions that members of the Onondaga Nation maintain an oral tradition of being rescued from famine by periodical cicadas.[3]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "General Periodical Cicada Information", Cicadas, February 16, 2017; Marshall, "A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification", Zootaxa, 2018, p. 1–64 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dybas, "A populations census of seventeen-year periodical cicadas (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada)", Ecology, 1962, p. 432–444 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. "General Periodical Cicada Information", Cicadas, February 16, 2017. facts only, no text reused. cicadas.uconn.edu
  4. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Magicicada species", National Geographic Society (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The periodical cicada problem. I. Population ecology", Evolution, 1966, p. 133–149; "Magicicada", Cicada Mania; "CICADAS IN ILLINOIS 2024", Field Museum; "The ecology, behavior, and evolution of periodical cicadas", Annual Review of Entomology, 1995, p. 269–295 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alexander, "The Evolutionary Relationships of 17-Year and 13-Year Cicadas, and Three New Species (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada)", University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 1962 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stranahan, "Nature Notes from the Eastern Forest", Arc of Appalachia; Capinera, "Encyclopedia of Entomology", Springer, 2008, p. 2785–2794 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cook, "Periodical cicada (Magicicada cassini) oviposition damage: visually impressive yet dynamically irrelevant", American Midland Naturalist, 2002, p. 214–224 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marlatt, "The Periodical Cicada", United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology Bulletin, 1907, p. 146; "Some Observations of Swarms of Strange Insects, and the Mischiefs Done by Them", Philosophical Transactions, 1665–1666, p. 137–138; "Some Observations of Swarms of Strange Insects, and the Mischiefs Done by Them", Philosophical Transactions, 1665–1666, p. 137–138 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marlatt, "The Periodical Cicada", United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology Bulletin, 1907, p. 28–30; Marlatt, "The Periodical Cicada", United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology Bulletin, 1907, p. 146 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Post, "A Trill of a Lifetime", The Illinois Steward, 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Periodical cicadas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Capinera, "Encyclopedia of Entomology", Springer, 2008, p. 2785–2794 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. "Magicicada", Cicada Mania. facts only, no text reused. cicadamania.com
  14. "Cicadas - The Rise of Brood X", The Mill of Bel Air, April 23, 2021. facts only, no text reused. themillstores.com
  15. Miller, "Return of the zombie cicadas: Manipulative qualities of fungal-infected flyers", Science Daily, 27 July 2020. facts only, no text reused. sciencedaily.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Periodical cicadas (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Hemiptera

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Periodical Cicada · Living Planet

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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