Mating Cicadas
Location: Cedar Hill Missouri
June 5, 2011 8:35 pm
Hello Bugman,
What kind of cicadas are these, such as year/scientific and common name? I would love to know!
Signature: Thanks!, Nathan Becker
Hi Nathan,
We are very thrilled to have received your photo of a mating pair of Brood XIX 13 Year Cicadas, Magicicada tredecassini. Here is the BugGuide information page on this species. This map on BugGuide illustrates the range of the Great Southern Brood of Periodical Cicadas in the genus Magicicada.
Ed. Note: Though Brood XIX seems to be emerging throughout its range, we have not received reports of great numbers of Cicadas. Is habitat destruction combined with Unnecessary Carnage beginning to contribute to a decline in the number of individuals?
I live about 2 hours south of Nathan. I don’t remember the last round of 13-year cicadas (if that was 13 years ago then I was 8 at the time), but they seem pretty thick here. They’re very easily heard outside. My sister lives in a bigger town, though, and she said she rarely hears them there. It makes sense, I guess, since there might be fewer trees. I have seen cicadas in my trees and I have found a cicada shell already. They seem pretty thick here, at least from my experience.
Thank you so much for providing this information.