Magicicada cassini

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Magicicada cassini
Magicicada cassini female ovipositing - journal.pone.0000892.g005.png
Female ovipositing
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha
Family: Cicadidae
Genus: Magicicada
Species:
M. cassini
Binomial name
Magicicada cassini
(Fisher, 1852)
Synonyms

Cicada cassiniiFisher, 1852 [2]

Magicicada cassini (originally spelled cassinii [lower-alpha 1] ), known as the 17-year cicada, Cassin's periodical cicada or the dwarf periodical cicada, [6] is a species of periodical cicada. It is endemic to North America. It has a 17-year life cycle but is otherwise indistinguishable from the 13-year periodical cicada Magicicada tredecassini . The two species are usually discussed together as "cassini periodical cicadas" or "cassini-type periodical cicadas." Unlike other periodical cicadas, cassini-type males may synchronize their courting behavior so that tens of thousands of males sing and fly in unison. [7] [8] The species was first reported to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia by Margaretta Morris in 1846. [9] In 1852, the species was formally described by J. C. Fisher and given the specific name cassini in honour of John Cassin, an American ornithologist, whose own report was included by Fisher in his publication.

Contents

Description

The adult M. cassini is very similar in appearance to other periodical cicadas. It is between 24 and 27 mm (0.94 and 1.06 in) long, measured from the front of the head to the tip of the wings folded over the abdomen. The head is black, the eyes are large and red, the pronotum is black apart from a narrow orange band at the edge of the sternites, and the abdomen is black. The legs are orange and the wings are translucent, with orange veins and dusky markings near the tips. [8]

Distribution and habitat

Magicicada cassini is endemic to North America, its range extending across the northern belt of the United States and the southern part of Canada. [8]

Life cycle

Mating call Brood XIII sub-brood, 2020

These cicadas are true bugs and after having emerged from underground, the adults feed on sap sucked from trees and shrubs. Males amass in great numbers and sing in unison to attract females. The call lasts for two to four seconds and is a series of ticks followed by a drawn-out buzz which rises and falls in pitch. At the end of a chorus, males move to a new perch before starting the song again. After mating, the females insert their ovipositors into shoots and lay their eggs. These hatch about two months later and the first instar nymphs drop to the ground where they move underground and suck xylem sap from small rootlets. This sap is very low in nutritive value and the nymphs grow very slowly. They will moult five times, moving on to larger roots deep in the soil as they grow over a period of seventeen years. Finally, they all tunnel up through the soil and emerge into the open air, before climbing up the vegetation and shedding their skins for a final time to become adults. Although each population has a seventeen-year life cycle and emerges in synchrony, past environmental events have occasionally disrupted this pattern and there are several different broods in existence in various parts of the insect's range which emerge in different calendar years. [8] [10] In fact, their life cycle can range from thirteen to twenty-one years. [11]

The different broods have been numbered, and the most recent emergence of Brood X occurred in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia in May and June 2021. [10] [6] Many broods have a sub-brood that emerge a few years before the regular brood. The Brood XIII sub-brood in the Chicago area emerged 4 years early in 2020.

Damage

In outbreak years, the cicadas do significant damage to the trees on which they lay eggs, especially saplings. The female cuts a slit in a twig in which to insert her eggs and this often causes the shoot to droop and defoliate. In larger twigs it may allow entry of disease organisms. The burden of feeding of the nymphs is also considerable. However, it has been shown that there is little long-term harm to mature trees. [12]

Alleged reward for blue eyed cicadas

A popular reoccurring urban legend purports to say that rare blue (or white) eyed cicadas will fetch rewards of up to one million dollars. According to the legend, biological laboratories, particularly at Vanderbilt University, [13] will pay a reward to any who catch such a specimen. And while it is true that blue eyed cicadas are extremely rare, occurring in only about one in every million insects, no laboratories currently offer any such reward. [14] However, Roy Troutman, an American entomologist and cicada researcher, [15] did in fact offer rewards for living blue eyed cicadas for cicada research in 2008. He is no longer offering rewards. [16]

Notes

  1. ↑ The original spelling for Fisher's 17-year periodical cicada species is cassinii, [2] with two terminal 'i's, but a large majority of publications have spelled the name cassini since the mid-1960s. [3] Although cassini is an incorrect subsequent spelling under Article 33.4 of the rules of nomenclature, [4] Article 33.3.1 states that "when an incorrect subsequent spelling is in prevailing usage and is attributed to the publication of the original spelling, the subsequent spelling and attribution are to be preserved and the spelling is deemed to be a correct original spelling". [3] The correct spelling for the 13-year relative is tredecassini. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cicada</span> Superfamily of insects

The cicadas are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world; many species remain undescribed. Nearly all of cicada species are annual cicadas with the exception of the few North American periodical cicada species, genus Magicicada, which in a given region emerge en masse every 13 or 17 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood X</span> Brood of periodical cicadas that appear every 17 years throughout the eastern United States

Brood X, the Great Eastern Brood, is one of 15 broods of periodical cicadas that appear regularly throughout the eastern United States. The brood's first major emergence after 2021 is predicted to occur during 2038.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Periodical cicadas</span> Genus of true bugs native to North America

The term periodical cicada is commonly used to refer to any of the seven species of the genus Magicicada of eastern North America, the 13- and 17-year cicadas. They are called periodical because nearly all individuals in a local population are developmentally synchronized and emerge in the same year. Although they are sometimes called "locusts", this is a misnomer, as cicadas belong to the taxonomic order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, while locusts are grasshoppers belonging to the order Orthoptera. Magicicada belongs to the cicada tribe Lamotialnini, a group of genera with representatives in Australia, Africa, and Asia, as well as the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cicadidae</span> Family of cicada insects

Cicadidae, the true cicadas, is one of two families of cicadas, containing almost all living cicada species with more than 3,200 species worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood XIII</span> Periodical cicada brood

Brood XIII is one of 15 separate broods of periodical cicadas that appear regularly throughout the midwestern United States. Every 17 years, Brood XIII tunnels en masse to the surface of the ground, mates, lays eggs in tree twigs, and then dies off over several weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood XIX</span> Periodical cicada brood

Brood XIX is the largest brood of 13-year periodical cicadas, last seen in 2024 across a wide stretch of the southeastern United States. Periodical cicadas are often referred to as "17-year locusts" because most of the known distinct broods have a 17-year life cycle. Brood XIX is one of only three surviving broods with a 13-year cycle. It is also notable because it includes four different 13-year species, one of which was discovered in Brood XIX in 1998 by scientists listening to cicada songs.

<i>Magicicada septendecim</i> Species of periodical cicada

Magicicada septendecim, sometimes called the Pharaoh cicada or the 17-year locust, is native to Canada and the United States and is the largest and most northern species of periodical cicada with a 17-year lifecycle.

<i>Amphipsalta zelandica</i> Species of true bug

The chorus cicada, Amphipsalta zelandica, is the most common species of cicada in New Zealand, where it is endemic and found in most areas. They typically live in forests and areas with open bush, where their left-over nymph skins can be seen on tree trunks and branches during the summer months. The males produce their cicada sound in unison, which can reach deafening proportions at the height of their population around February. Groups of cicada can suddenly transition from the typical cicada sound to synchronised clicks, using their wings to clap against the surface they are sitting on.

<i>Thopha saccata</i> Australian species of cicada

Thopha saccata, the double drummer, is the largest Australian species of cicada and reputedly the loudest insect in the world. Documented by the Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1803, it was the first described and named cicada native to Australia. Its common name comes from the large dark red-brown sac-like pockets that the adult male has on each side of its abdomen—the "double drums"—that are used to amplify the sound it produces.

<i>Massospora cicadina</i> Species of fungus that infects periodical cicadas

Massospora cicadina is a fungal pathogen that infects only 13 and 17 year periodical cicadas. Infection results in a "plug" of spores that replaces the end of the cicada's abdomen while it is still alive, leading to infertility, disease transmission, and eventual death of the cicada.

Magicicada neotredecim is the most recently discovered species of periodical cicada. Like all Magicicada species, M. neotredecim has reddish eyes and wing veins and a black dorsal thorax. It has a 13-year life cycle but seems to be most closely related to the 17-year species Magicicada septendecim. Both species are distinguished by broad orange stripes on the abdomen and a unique high-pitched song said to resemble someone calling "weeeee-whoa" or "Pharaoh." They differ only in life cycle length.

<i>Magicicada tredecim</i> Species of true bug

Magicicada tredecim is a 13-year species of periodical cicada, closely related to the newly discovered 13-year species Magicicada neotredecim, from which it differs in male song pitch, female song pitch preferences, abdomen color, and mitochondrial DNA. Both M. tredecim and M. neotredecim are closely related to the 17-year species M. septendecim, which was identified by Linnaeus in 1758; these three species are often grouped together under the name decim periodical cicadas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decim periodical cicadas</span>

Decim periodical cicadas is a term used to group three closely related species of periodical cicadas: Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada tredecim, and Magicicada neotredecim. M. septendecim, first described by Carl Linnaeus, has a 17-year life cycle; the name septendecim is Latin for 17. M. tredecim, first described in 1868, has a similar call and appearance but a 13-year life cycle; tredecim is Latin for 13. M. neotredecim, first described in 2000 by Marshall and Cooley in an article in the journal Evolution, is a 13-year species but otherwise much more similar to M. septendecim than to M. tredecim as shown by studies of DNA and abdominal color variation by Chris Simon and colleagues in a companion article in the same journal issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassini periodical cicadas</span> Periodical cicadas

The Cassini periodical cicadas are a pair of closely related species of periodical cicadas: Magicicada cassini, having a 17-year life cycle, and Magicicada tredecassini, a nearly identical species with a 13-year life cycle.

<i>Magicicada tredecassini</i> Species of true bug

Magicicada tredecassini is a species of periodical cicada endemic to the United States. It has a 13-year lifecycle but is otherwise indistinguishable from the 17-year periodical cicada Magicicada cassini. The two species are usually discussed together as "cassini periodical cicadas" or "cassini-type periodical cicadas." Unlike other periodical cicadas, cassini-type males may synchronize their courting behavior so that tens of thousands of males sing and fly in unison.

Magicicada tredecula is a species of periodical cicada in the family Cicadidae. It is endemic to the United States. As its specific epithet implies, they emerge as adults once every thirteen years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood II</span> Periodical cicada brood

Brood II is one of 15 separate broods of Magicicada that appear regularly throughout the northeastern United States. Every 17 years, Brood II tunnels en masse to the surface of the ground, mates, lays eggs, and then dies off over the span of several weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood XXII</span> Periodical cicada brood

Brood XXII is a brood of 13-year periodical cicadas, last seen in 2014 in a geographic region centered on Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as well as other locations in southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi. Periodical cicadas are often referred to as "17-year locusts" because most of the known distinct broods have a 17-year life cycle. Brood XXII is one of only three surviving broods with a 13-year cycle. The next emergence of The Baton Rouge Brood is expected in 2027.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood V</span> Periodical cicada brood

Brood V is one of twelve extant broods of periodical cicadas that emerge as adults once every 17 years in North America. They are expected to appear in the eastern half of Ohio, the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, the upper two-thirds of West Virginia less the Eastern Panhandle, far western Maryland, and some places in Virginia abutting West Virginia. Also included in Brood V is a population that emerges in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. They last emerged in 2016, and their next appearance will be in 2033.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood XXIII</span> Periodical cicada brood

Brood XXIII is a brood of 13-year periodical cicadas that last emerged in 2015 around the Mississippi River in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, and Illinois. The brood was also seen in Southwestern Indiana and Western Kentucky around the Ohio River, and as far north as Weldon Springs State Park in DeWitt County, Illinois. Brood XXIII is one of three extant periodical cicada broods with a 13-year life cycle, and thus is expected to be seen again in 2028.

References

  1. ↑ World Conservation Monitoring Centre. (1996). Magicicada cassini. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1996. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T12690A3373469.en.
  2. 1 2 Fisher, J.C. (1852). "On a new species of Cicada". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 5: 272–275.
  3. 1 2 Marshall, David C. (8 April 2022). "On the spelling of the name of Cassin's 17-Year Cicada, Magicicada cassini (Fisher, 1852) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae)". Zootaxa. 5125 (2): 241–245. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5125.2.8 . PMID   36101217. [open access]
  4. ↑ "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th Edition". ICZN. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  5. ↑ Alexander, R.D., and T. E. Moore. (1962). The evolutionary relationships of 17-year and 13-year cicadas, and three new species (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada). Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Zoology of the University of Michigan 121: 1–59.
  6. 1 2 "Magicicada cassini (Fisher, 1852) aka Cassini 17-Year Cicada". Cicada Mania. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "University of Michigan Periodical Cicada Page" . Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Capinera, John L. (2008). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer. p. 2792. ISBN   978-1-4020-6242-1.
  9. ↑ McNeur, Catherine. "The Woman Who Solved a Cicada Mystery—but Got No Recognition". Scientific American . Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  10. 1 2 Post, Susan L. (2004). "A Trill of a Lifetime". The Illinois Steward. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. ↑ Campbell, Matthew (18 August 2015). "Genome expansion via lineage splitting and genome reduction in the cicada endosymbiont Hodgkinia - Supporting Information" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 112 (33): 10192–10199. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1421386112 . PMC   4547289 . PMID   26286984 . Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  12. ↑ Cook, William M.; Holt, Robert D. (2002). "Periodical cicada (Magicicada cassini) oviposition damage: visually impressive yet dynamically irrelevant" (PDF). American Midland Naturalist. 147 (2): 214–224. doi:10.1674/0003-0031(2002)147[0214:PCMCOD]2.0.CO;2. S2CID   45098071. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2011.
  13. ↑ "Bad buzz about blue-eyed cicadas". 2 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "'Cicada cash' rumor squashed". 18 May 2004.
  15. ↑ Cooley, John R.; Arguedas, Nidia; Bonaros, Elias; Bunker, Gerry; Chiswell, Stephen M.; Degiovine, Annette; Edwards, Marten; Hassanieh, Diane; Haji, Diler; Knox, John; Kritsky, Gene; Mills, Carolyn; Mozgai, Dan; Troutman, Roy; Zyla, John; Hasegawa, Hiroki; Sota, Teiji; Yoshimura, Jin; Simon, Chris (2018). "The periodical cicada four-year acceleration hypothesis revisited and the polyphyletic nature of Brood V, including an updated crowd-source enhanced map (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada)". PeerJ. 6: e5282. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5282 . PMC   6074776 . PMID   30083444.
  16. ↑ "Did Someone Offer a Reward for White or Blue-eyed Cicadas?". 5 July 2015.
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