Dog Days Cicada

  • LenH
    Wisconsin
    Posts: 2385
    #1278275

    Found this perched on my tent this morning. Love to identify insect visitors.

    Tibicen cicadas are 1-2 inches long, with characteristic green, brown, and black markings on the top of the thorax, and tented, membranous wings extending past the abdomen. The fore pair are about twice the length of the hind pair. Males produce loud calls in the afternoon or evening (depending on the species) to attract females. These sounds, distinctive for each species, are produced by organs below the abdomen’s base. These calls range from a loud buzz to a long rattling sound. Adults feed using their beak to tap into the xylem of plants. Nymphs feed from the xylem of roots.

    Many animals feed on cicadas, which usually occurs during the final days when they become easy prey near the ground. One of the more notable predators is the cicada killer. This is a large wasp that catches the dog day cicada. After catching and stinging the insect to paralyze it, the cicada killer carries it back to its hole and drags it underground to a chamber where it lays its eggs in the paralyzed cicada. When the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae feed on the paralyzed, but still living, cicada.
    ~Wikipedia

    Dream’n
    South St. Paul, Mn
    Posts: 371
    #1086910

    I leve these things. We have a bunch of these in our yard and love watching the adults come out of their larvae shells.

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #1086918

    Quote:


    I leve these things. We have a bunch of these in our yard and love watching the adults come out of their larvae shells.



    I’ve yet to witness that. I’ve found shells, that’s about it.

    I once found a cicada whose soft underbelly was eaten by a bird and he was still moving. I’ve got a bunch of cicada pictures, because I find them very interesting.




    Ragerunner
    Posts: 30
    #1086929

    I have collected insects for almost 30 years and have only encountered the cicada killer 4 times. As luck would have it, I caught one last week. While I have never been stung by one, they are the biggest wasp I have seen in the Midwest. They are massive!

    Dream’n
    South St. Paul, Mn
    Posts: 371
    #1086946

    The larvae that I find are right around dusk a few feet high on our pine trees/swing set/yard barn, anything wood so they can dig there legs in and rip out the back of the larvae!

    chirp
    Rochester
    Posts: 1471
    #1087078

    Pug what’s that last picture? That’s no bug.

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #1087176

    BEcause Tuffy looks like a Cicada. I call him that sometimes, although his most popular nickname was coined by my brother after riding with us up to the lake. That name is Assjack.

    chirp
    Rochester
    Posts: 1471
    #1087262

    Ok I guess I see the resemblence

    Ralph Wiggum
    Maple Grove, MN
    Posts: 11764
    #1087762

    I spotted one emerging from it’s juvenile exoskeleton last night while mowing the lawn. I have always thought cicadas were neat, but this is the first time I witnessed an emergence. I have some neat photos that I will post when I pull them off the camera.

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #1087783

    You lucky SOB. I can’t wait for the pictures.

    I think one of the cool and fascinating things about cicadas is that they don’t spook easily. If you find one, you can grab them and hold them without them taking off. That might be because the ones we find near the ground are dying, injured or stressed?

    I want to hear one up close making that noise. If you agitate them, they will buzz a little, but not as strong as what you here coming from the trees. I want to see how loud it is when you are that close.

    Nice to see some fellow cicada fans out there on IDO.

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    #1087787

    You guys bug me.

    Ralph Wiggum
    Maple Grove, MN
    Posts: 11764
    #1087833

    Here it is. It was clinging to the side of our front steps.

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #1087858

    Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

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