Casting a Wider Net

Temperatures are climbing, and the southeastern woods are ringing with loud cicada choruses! More observations are coming in of holes and nymphs in Brood XIII territory, so they're not far behind their southern cousins. Keep an eye out for the black patches on northern nymphs, which will appear just before they're ready to emerge and undergo their final molt.

In light of all the records coming in, I've broadened the project parameters to include "Needs ID" observations. I hope this will reduce the pressure on identifiers and relieve frustration for contributors who have submitted observations that aren't appearing in the project. It's easy to see just the RG observations by ticking one box in the filter panel, so let's welcome all Magicicada observations to the party!

Misidentifications of Magicicada are relatively uncommon, and usually consist of annual cicada skins or nymphs (which will have a broader, rounder thorax and are often greenish), CV misidentifications of species like Okanagana and Platypedia (which can typically be filtered out by range), and the occasional bee fly pupa, a.k.a. "sky shrimp" (go figure!).

As more adults emerge, remember that (at least for species ID purposes), underside photos of fully darkened adults are everything!

Publicado el 02 de mayo de 2024 a las 06:23 PM por weecorbie