Cicada 13

June 1, 2013

I went to Roosevelt Park in Edison, NJ located at Route 1 South and Grandview Ave to see the Magicicadas. This emergence is known as Brood II. Brood X emerged in 2004 at a different location. These are known as Magicicada septendecim or the 17 year cicadas as opposed to the annual variety. The annual cicadas usually appear later in the year around July and August.

The weather this year was a little weird. It was a cool Spring. The Magicicadas emerge when the ground warms up to the mid 60's. It did warm up but last week it got very cold with lows below 50. Today it was 95 (Fahrenheit).

The cicadas here seemed to be shorter than Brood X and there were many with mis-shaped wings. I don't know if this was due to the cold snap or other environmental factors. It may just be the way that they are. As they popped out of their shells they were mostly black where Brood X was mostly white with two black spots.

Be sure to check out Cicada 04 (Brood X) for more pictures and more information.

You can click on the pictures to see a larger version.

Cicada emerging from shell

Group of cicadas on a tree trunk

Cicadas mating on a tree trunk

Cicadas on a branch

The above photo shows a normal cicada on a branch and the one above on a leaf with irregular wings.

Here is a 30 second video I took (You Tube):

Magicicada Mating Dance