Register

  • Discover new ways to elevate your game with the updated DGCourseReview app!
    It's entirely free and enhanced with features shaped by user feedback to ensure your best experience on the course. (App Store or Google Play)

Cicada [the bug] Report Card

ru4por

ru4por

* Ace Member *
Premium Member
Joined
May 3, 2012
Messages
7,888
Location
Dearborn Michigan
Thought it could be cool to have a place to post about the 2024 cicada hatch. Interesting stories and hopefully some pics.

Generally, a 13-year brood emerges in the same year as a 17-year brood roughly every 5-6 years, though most of the 17-year broods are not in contact with a 13-year brood, so the different cicadas are clearly separated in space. A co-emergence involving adjacent broods of different life cycles is something that happens only roughly every 25 years. Any two specific broods of different life cycles co-emerge only every 221 years.

2024 is a special year for periodical cicadas:
For the first time since 2015 a 13-year brood will emerge in the same year as a 17-year brood.
For the first time since 1998 adjacent 13-and 17-year broods will emerge in the same year.
For the first time since 1803 Brood XIX and XIII will co-emerge.
You will be able to see all seven named periodical cicada species as adults in the same year, which will not happen again until 2037. You will not see all seven named species emerge in the state of Illinois again until 2041.

Broods XIII and XIX will emerge in their respective ranges. Because 2024 is one year in advance of the Brood XIV emergence in 2025 and four years in advance of the Brood XXIII emergence in 2027, off-cycle cicadas will also emerge in the ranges of these broods. See our straggler cicada page for more information about off-cycle cicadas.
 
Of course, along with the Cicada hatch comes a hunter.

What are killer cicada wasps?
Killer cicada wasps are large, black or dark brown wasps, approximately two inches in length. They have amber colored wings and yellow markings on their abdomen.

According to the Smithsonian Institution, killer cicada wasps can be found in the eastern United States, east of the Rocky Mountains and in the western United States where they are known as the Western Cicada Killer. Killer cicada wasps appear as adults in late June or July and are mostly seen visiting flowers or digging burrows in sandy or light soil, said the Smithsonian.

What do killer cicada wasps do?
According to the Smithsonian, killer cicada wasps make their nests in the ground and supply it with cicadas. The male wasps appear first and will mate with the female wasps once they emerge from the soil. After mating, female wasps will select a site and begin digging a burrow, normally under sidewalks, roadsides and embankments. They often choose lawns in populated areas, said the Smithsonian.

The killer wasps will loosen the soil in the site and make their burrows large enough to accommodate a few individual cicadas. Killer cicadas will normally prey on female cicadas as they no make no sound. Cicadas are paralyzed by the wasp's sting and will be carried back to the burrow, said the Smithsonian. The cicadas will normally be captured in flight.

Do killer cicada wasps sting? Are they harmful to humans?
Killer cicada wasps are considered only a minor pest, said the Smithsonian. But they will sting if bothered.

According to the University of Kentucky, male killer wasps are territorial but harmless since they lack stingers. Female killer wasps however have stingers which they use to inject paralyzing venom into cicadas to paralyze them. Female killer wasps are not aggressive, but do have painful stings which they will utilize if they feel threatened.
 
Field report: After 13 years underground, our cicadas have a LOT to say.
 
I'm curious about the fungus infested "zombie" cicadas. For those that enjoy a cicada snack, better with or without a side of mushroom?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Top