''Magicicada cassini'' (originally spelled ''cassinii'' ), known as the 17-year cicada, Cassin's periodical cicada or the dwarf periodical cicada,
is a species of
periodical cicada
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 a ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
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
The Cassini periodical cicadas are a pair of closely related species of periodical cicadas: ''Magicicada cassini'' (Fisher, 1852), having a 17-year life cycle, and '' Magicicada tredecassini'' (Alexander and Moore, 1962), a nearly identical speci ...
" 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.
The species was first reported to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia by
Margaretta Morris
Margaretta Hare Morris (3 December 1797 – 29 May 1867) was an American entomologist. Morris and the astronomer Maria Mitchell were the first women elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1850. She was also the seco ...
in 1846. In 1852, the species was formally described by J. C. Fisher and given the
specific name ''cassini'' in honour of
John Cassin
John Cassin (September 6, 1813 – January 10, 1869) was an American ornithologist from Pennsylvania. He worked as curator and Vice President at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and focused on the systemic classification of the Acade ...
, an American ornithologist, whose own report was included by Fisher in his publication.
Description
The adult ''M. cassini'' is very similar in appearance to other periodical cicadas. It is between 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
The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum ( dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...
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.
[
]
Distribution and habitat
''Magicicada cassini'' is endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to North America, its range extending across the northern belt of the United States and the southern part of Canada.[
]
Life cycle
These cicadas are true bugs
Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to aroun ...
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 ovipositor
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...
s into shoots and lay their eggs. These hatch about two months later and the first instar
An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...
nymphs
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typ ...
drop to the ground where they move underground and suck xylem
Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem. The basic function of xylem is to transport water from roots to stems and leaves, but it also transports nutrients. The word ''xylem'' is derived from ...
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. In fact, their life cycle can range from thirteen to twenty-one years.
The different broods have been numbered, and the most recent emergence of Brood X
Brood X (Brood 10), 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.
Characteristics
...
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.[ Many broods have a sub-brood that emerge a few years before the regular brood. The ]Brood XIII
Brood XIII (also known as Brood 13 or Northern Illinois Brood) 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 ...
sub-brood in the Chicago area emerged 4 years early in 2020.
File:Magicicada cassinii-call.ogg, Mating call Brood XIII
Brood XIII (also known as Brood 13 or Northern Illinois Brood) 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 ...
sub-brood, Naperville, Illinois
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
June 12, 2020
File:Magicicada cassinii-male dorsal.jpg, Male dorsal Brood XIII
Brood XIII (also known as Brood 13 or Northern Illinois Brood) 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 ...
sub-brood, Naperville, Illinois
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
June 13, 2020
File:Magicicada cassinii-male ventral.jpg, Male ventral Brood XIII
Brood XIII (also known as Brood 13 or Northern Illinois Brood) 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 ...
sub-brood, Naperville, Illinois
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
June 13, 2020
File:Magicicada cassinii-male crawling.webm, Male crawling Brood XIII
Brood XIII (also known as Brood 13 or Northern Illinois Brood) 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 ...
sub-brood, Naperville, Illinois
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
June 13, 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.
Alleged reward for blue eyed cicadas
A popular reoccurring urban legend
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
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
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
, 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.
However, Roy Troutman, an American entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
and cicada researcher, did in fact offer rewards for living blue eyed cicadas for cicada research in 2008. He is no longer offering rewards.
Notes
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q234354, from2=Q110457720
Lamotialnini
Hemiptera of North America
Insects of Canada
Insects of the United States
Insects described in 1852
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot