- ---- - - - ------

Magicicada ••

An odult periodicol cicodoA femo/ e cicodo loymg eggs", tre e bronch

(AboYIt ond be/ow} Emltrg ,ng c.codell look/ik. b.outitul white b/ouoms expand,ng .

The newly emlt' ged cicodoJ w,1I Joon d.yelopcharacteristic adult color ond palte",.

14 The Conse rvationist. MaY-June, 1979

the Forgotten Visitorby Christine Simon

MA N Y H u d s on Valleyres idents ha ve Forgottenwhat ha ppened here almost17 yea rs ago; much less are

they aware of wha t is going on beneaththei r fee t at thi s very moment. Soon,one mo rn ing in late May or early Ju ne .they will he remind ed.

As always , the spring rains willcome. The soil will warm grad ually asthe days length en. Th e whi te oak leaveswill loose their soft white fuzz, expand ,turn a darker green , and stretch tigh t.Thi s particular morning, as the sun risesover the Tacon ics and warms the valley,the air will begin to hu m. A softmechan ical noise, it resemb les the whirof elec trical wires, the roa r of far awaymotorcycles, or the eerie sound of a fleetof flying saucers from a 1950 's sc iencefictio n film. A familiar sound to man y,yet someho w unrecognizable. Thi s isno t su rprising, cons idering th at thesc rap of memory upon which th is soundwas re corded has been pu shedprogressi vely to the back of th e filingdrawer for 17 long years now.

On th e front lawn the neighbor's catis pla ying with some th ing. A bluejaylan ds in the gra ss and flies to a treetopwith a la rge insect buzzing loudl y in itsbeak . Th eil , sudden ly, the buzzingstops; but the strange whirring noi secontinues. It is coming from thetreetops. Tin y dark objects n it betweenhigh branch tip s, Every now and th enthe sun flashes on a gossamer wing .Slowly, the mem or y of June 1962re turns. A glan ce at the sh rubbery andtre e trunks confirms the suspicion : tinygolden shells are cl inging eve rywhere.The ground is riddled with holes. T he17-year "lo cust" has emerged again tosing in the warm spring sun for three orfou r weeks.

Of course this large, red-eyed ,orange a nd black insec t is not a locust atal l. It is a relat ive of the aphid, thetreeh opper, and other suc king insects ofthe order Homoptera, and is moreproperl y called a cicada. The tru e locust,the migratory, biblical gra pes-of-wra thkind , is a member of th e order of chew-

ing insec ts know n as Or thopt era. Inother words, it is a gra sshopper.

T he " 17·year locu sts" received theirinfamou s na me from-th e Pilgrims in thespri ng of 1634. The newcomers ofPlymou th suffered many hardships.\Vhen a massive "swarm" of st range in-sec ts emerged sudden ly, they appearedto be none other than the biblical locustsent as yet another tria l from heaven.Not long thereafter the following noticeappeared in a jou rnal of the Royal Socie-ty of London:

A great observer who hath lived long inNew England, did u.pon occasionrelate to a f riend of his in London,where he lately was, that some fewyears since, there was such a swann ofa certain sort of insect in that Englishcolony, that fo r the space of200 milesthey poisoned and destroyed all thetreesofthat country; there beingfoundinnumerable little holes in the ground,out ofwhich those insects brokeforth inthefonn ofmaggots, which turned intof lyes that had a kInd of wile or sting,which they struck into the tree, andthereby mvellomed and killed it.

Th e stra nge insect spoken of was in-deed the 17-year cicada, bu t th e elfect ofits "sting" (egg laying) was greatly ex-aggerated. The abo ve article wen t on toliken the cicadas " to a plague which wassaid to happen frequ ently inthe cou ntryo f the Cossacks or Ukrani , where in drysummers the y are infested with suchswarms of locu st s, dr iven there by aneas t or sou theas t wind , tha t the y dar kenthe air and de vour all the corn of thecount ry." And even though It wouldhave been physicall y impossibl e forthese sap-feed ing insects to ea t theleaves of an y plant from that timeo nward , they and the ir non-periodicalrelati ves hav e been known as locu sts .

Of course, 17-year cicada is no trest ricted to the Hudson Valley a nd NewEngland . Variou s groups (broo ds)emerge throughout the U.S. east of theGreat Plain s. Th ey occur no where elsein the world . In the Sou th , theseper iodical cicadas have a life cycle of

only 13 years. Unli ke all o the r membersof the cicada family , the periodicalcicadas are sync hronized in adu lteme rgence time, suc h that agiven broodappears as adult s on ly once every 13 or17 yea rs . Some broods are large and oc-cupy much of th e eas tern U.S., whi leothe rs are small and occ upy only a smallcor ner of a state. T he broo ds are de-fined an d num bered sequentiall yaccordi ng to their year of emergence'.Fourteen broods of l 7·year cicada andfour brood s of 13-yea r cicada ar ethou ght to exi st at the present time.

In almost every brood of per iodicalcicadas there are three morphologicallydis tinc t species. They differ in colora-tion, size, a nd song. T he largest , mostcommon spec ies is called Magicicadaseptendecim. It has a black body, brig htorange wing veins, a n orange abdo men ,and orange legs with black ti ps (tarsi).Its song is a sorr owfu l PHAROOOH,droppi ng in frequency at the end. Themediu m sized speci es is M. cassini. Itscolor is similar to septendecim. exceptthat the abdom en is black unde rneath.Its song is a series of tic ks which in-crease in tempo and end in a loud buzz.T he th ird and smalles t species, M.septendecula, is probably present in NewYork State as well, although it has notbeen described her e. Its abdomen isstriped with orange and its legs are com-pletely orange. Its song is a tambourine-like tschhh- tch-t schhh-tch-tschh h.tch.tschh h

Periodical cicadas should not beconfused with annual cicadas, which donot appear until Ju ly and August and areknown as " Harves t Flies," "Ja w Flies,"or " Dog Day cicadas." They are general-ly large r and gre en or brown in color.None of these species has red eyes orquite as much character.

In New York State, periodicalcicadas emerge from the ground in earlyto mid-June after spending 17 years inthe ju ven ile (nymphal) stage feeding onthe roots of tree s. The adult males singto attract the female s, which have novoice of the ir own. Afte r mati ng, thefema les lay eggs in nes ts which they

State of N ew York, Departme nt of En vironmental Con servation 15

create by making grooves in pencil-sizedtree branches with their sharpovipositors. Approximat ely 24 eggs arelaid in each nest, and it has been es-timated that each female is capable oflaying as many as 500 eggs.

After two months the eggshatch andthe ant- sized nymphs fall to the ground,burrow benea th the surface, and pokethe ir tiny sucking beaks int o treerootlets where they feed on dilute xylemfluid. During the next 17 years they passthrough five nymphal stages (instar s).After each instar they shed their skin tobecome larger.

Although the nymphs grow atdifferent rates, at the end of 17 yearsthey are all in the fifth instar. The yusually emerge within hours of eachother on warm spring evenings shortl yafter sunset, leaving the ground hone y-combed with round holes approximatel yone-half inch in diameter. They oftenemerge in such large nu mbers that theclatte r and stumbling of their arm ymarching toward any vertical objects(usually trees) are clearly audible. Indr y leaves, the y sound exactly like abowl of Rice Krispiesand milk. The sub-sequent escape of the adult insect fromits final nymphal skin is a sight tobehold :

There are few more beautiful sightsthan to see this f resh f orming cicada inall the differ ent positions, clinging andclustering in g reat numbers to the out-side lower leaves and branches of alarge tree. In the moonlight such a treelooks f or all the world as though it werefull of beaut iful white blossoms invarious stages of expansi on.

C.L. Marlott, 1970 US D .A . Bulletin

Ten broods of periodical cicadas arefound in New York Stat e. Brood 1appeared in 1978. Brood II (see map)last emerged in 1962 and is expected thi sspring. The next brood to appear in NewYork , Brood V, will not be heard sing-ing unt il 1982. Brood VI was last sup'posed to have emerged in 1966. BroodVII did emerge in 1967; Brood VIII in1968; X in 1970; XIV in 1974 ; and XVin 1975. Brood VII is the only one ex-c1usive to New York State. Some 17-year broods extend as far west as Kansasand as far south as northea stern Texas,but the two largest broods (XIV and X)are concentrated in the nor th and eastcentral U.S.

16

In New York Brood XIV is knownonly in the eastern end of Long Islandand on Staten Island. In 1974, few if anywere recorded on Staten Island, buthuge population s were found in localiz-ed area s from Hicksville and Massape-qua in the west, to Manorville andMastic in the east. There were no adultsto be found still living by the beginn ingof July, but many tree branch tips hadturned brown as a result of overcrow-ding of some of their egg nests. By themiddle of August , the liny white first-instar nymphs were hopping from theirbran ch nests and falling to the ground.The following spring, the forests were asquiet and green as ever.

Brood X, largest of all the l7 -yearbroods, is parti cularly remembere d inBaltimore , where the insects were sonumerou s tha t they completely cov-ered trees and houses as they eme rged.In New York, Brood X is not a majorbrood. It occurs scattered over LongIsland from Rockville Center to Masticand has been recorded on Staten Islandand in Columbia and Ontario Counties.Even as earl y as 1919, people began to

Aller hOlthing, Ihe shed nymp h ccses fa ll toIh6 ground.

worry that the cicadas of Brood X weredwindling in numbers . In a New YorkTimes art icle on June 23, entitled " 17-Year Locust Shuns Manhattan ; Sings inBrooklyn, Queens and Richmond butResists the Lure of Broad.....ay," scien-tists speculated on how many years itwould be before the acti vities of man en-tirely wipeout the amazing little insect s.One newspaper art icle poignantlydescribes the " ultimate in hopeless-ness"; a small num ph tunneling to thesurface after 17 years underground onlyto find its escape route blocked by cold,hard cement .

Brood VII, the only brood restrictedto New York State, was rediscovered byL. L. Pechuman of Cornell University in1967. He found sizable populations in

Onondaga, Cayuga, and LivingstonCounties.

Brood II is well represent ed in t\ ev.York State. It has been report ed fromAlbany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene.Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer,Richmond . Rockland, Saratoga, Ulster.Washington and Westchester Count ies.Thi s is the brood which will appear thisspring from northern New York southto the northern Piedmont section ofNorth Carolina. It will be par ticularlyheavy in New York and metro politanNew Jersey.

Brood I centers in the mountains ofVirginia and West Virginia and has beenrecorded in New York only in the Half-way-Hollow Hills area of Long Island(in 1910,1927 and 1944) and in a patchof undeveloped park land and adjacenttown fir ing range near Ridge, also onLong Island. For some reason , th is smallarea of Long Island suppor ts morebroods of periodical cicadas than moststates! The Ridge populat ion of Brood Iabut s Brood V and IX and overlapsBrood XIV which appeared four yearsbefore it. Egg scars from Brood I can befound on the same bran ches as those ofits four year predecessor. Th is unu suallocalized jux taposition of broods fouryears apart provides a unique oppor-tunity for scientists studying the causesand results of the speciation process, forthese broods represent the first stage ofspecies formation.

Because these eastern Long Islandpopulations are so localized; they wentunnoticed for many years. They wererediscovered by the aut hor with the helpof publication s written by W. T. Davis,an entomologist who specialized incicadas and worked out of the Sta tenIsland Museum. Davis' last periodicalcicada hunting expedit ion was made in1944 to the Holmes Farm on Burr Lanein the Half-Way.Hollow Hills in thecompany of Edwin Way Teale. Daviskept notebooks full of correspondenceand newspaper clippings along with fieldnotes, filed by year. His notebooks stillsit in the grey metal filing cabinets in thedusty at tic of the Staten IslandMuseum , just as he left them. It washere tha t records of Brood I were found.A friend had written to Davis saying thathe heard the cicadas singing in 1927near old Camp Upton (now BrookhavenLabs) . Another correspondent hadobserved them in 1944 on his way from

The Conservationist, May-june, 1979

The lorg esl New York Sto te broo d will appear this spring (1979).

The peculiar habit s of the J7-yearcicada make them easy targets ofpredators . Rather than trying to escape,they practice safety in numbers. Whenthey appear there are so many thatpredators soon become satiated and nolonger desire 10 eat them. Thechance ofanyone individual being eaten isthe refore very low. This strategy workswell provided nothing disturbs the

tists from the Universities of Chicago,Mic higan , North Carolina, Penn-sylvania, and Illinois as well as Cornelland SI. Louis Univers ities. My researchconcerns making testable hypotheses ofevolutionary histo ry based on biochem-ical and morphological data. Periodicalcicadas are ideal subjects for th is studybecause they exist as isolated pop-ulat ions and broods which are in theprocess of speciattng. In order tode ci phe r t he pu zzle of the irevolut ionary past , it is necessary to haveaccurate records of their exact dis-tributions. It would help a great deal iflocal res idents could send a postcardwith the following infor mation con-cern ing the sightings of periodicalcicadas:Exact Location : _

Date (Day, Montlhh~, ~Y~e:.~,)~'-====:Past Sighti ngs: _Name:Address: _,- _

Phone Number:Song Description : _

and a spec imen, if possible. Note: (1) Itwill be satisfactor y to send a flatte nedspecimen in a standard envelope. (2)Cicadas do not bite or sting, etc. If it isnot possible to obta in a specimen pleaseenclose a br ief descr iption .

Chris SimonEcology and Evolution

DepartmentS.U.N.Y.Stony Brook, New York 11794 ~

Ch r istine Si mon, a post -doctoralas!lOCiate or the Univer5ity of Chicago, recent-Iy completed her doctorate at SUNY, StonyBrook. She received her bachelors and mastersdegrees al the University or fl orida , Gaines·ville. She has stud ied the periodical cicadas5ince 1974 and plans to continue this work aswell as inve5ligate evolutionary relationshipsamong other organisms.

system; but ofte n the ac tivities of manlower the cicada population densi tybelow the threshold level and the entirelocal popula tion is wiped ou t. This iswhat happened to Brood XV in NewJersey in 1975. It is unlikel y that thi sbrood will appear again in 1992.

The 17-year cicadas have been oftenabused by the public at large as a resultof bad press. The y have been accused ofeverything from star ling wars to eating aman' s arm off. They cause littl eeconomic damage. While it is tru e tha tthe female cicada's egg laying activitycan severely damage or kill very youngtrees, a simple cheese cloth or net bagwill provide protection . Larger tree s areessentially unaffected. Spra ying largetrees with insecticide is expensive, in-effective against cicadas, and harmful tothe environment. What a small price topay, a few bran ch tips, for the privilegeof viewing one of natur e' s mostfascinating creatures.

A Request from the Au thor

Because of the patchy nature of thedistr ibu tions of local populat ions of 17-year cicadas, I need the public' scooperation in locating these insects. Ihave been studying the periodicalcicadas for five years, along with scien-

his home in Riverhead to Ridge. Asearch of newspapers and scient ificpublication s produ ced no 1961 records,yet a (1978) journey to the spot men-tioned in the 1944 leite r foun d thecicadas singing as loudly as ever.

There is no doubt that , like many ofour other natu ral resources, thenu mbers of periodical cicadas aredwindling. As early as ]907, V.S.D.A.entomologist C. L. Marian wrote;

The g reatest check on the species hasbeen in the adventofEuropeansonthiscontinent and the accompanying clear-ing of woodla nds .. The vastareas in the more densely populatedeast, which wereonce thickly inhabitedby one or the other of the broods ofperiodical cicadas are rapidly losingthis characteristic, and the cicada willdoubtless appear in fewer and f ewernumbers . . .

/

/

Stale of Ne w York, Department of Environmenta l Con servation 17