''Magicicada neotredecim'' is the most recently discovered 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 ...

. Like all ''

Magicicada 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 ...

'' 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 ''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 Magicicada, periodical cicada with a 17-year lifecycle. Description ...

''. 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. Another closely related 13-year species ''

Magicicada tredecim ''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 m ...

'' differs very slightly from ''M. neotredecim'', and for many years two were considered one species with slight differences in abdomen color and

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

suggesting a zone of hybridization or introgression between 13-year and 17-year -decim populations. Then in 1998, scientists studying recordings of the chorus sound of Brood XIX recognized that the low-pitch component of the chorus contained two peak frequencies in some midwestern populations, corresponding to the songs of two sympatric 13-yr species related to ''M. septendecim''. Experiments subsequently demonstrated the existence of two populations of female cicadas that responded selectively based on the two male song frequencies. Because of their many similarities, ''M. neotredecim'', ''M. tredecim'', and ''M. septendecim'' are often described together as "

decim periodical cicadas 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 ...

Broods and distribution

Periodical cicadas are assigned to broods based on their year of emergence and life-cycle length. The other three 13-year species (''M. tredecim'', ''M. tredecassini'', and ''M. tredecula'') are represented in all three of the extant 13-year broods:

Brood XIX Brood XIX (also known as The Great Southern Brood) is the largest (most widely distributed) brood of 13-year periodical cicadas, last seen in 2011 across a wide stretch of the southeastern United States. Periodical cicadas (''Magicicada spp.'') ...

(emerging in 2011),

Brood XXII Brood XXII (also known as The Baton Rouge Brood) 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. Pe ...

(emerging in 2014), and

Brood XXIII Brood XXIII (also known as the Mississippi Valley Brood) 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 Illino ...

(emerging in 2015). ''M. neotredecim'' was first discovered in 1998 in Brood XIX, where it occurs toward the northern part of the range, showing a narrow range of overlap with the more southern species ''M. tredecim''. It has also been observed in Brood XXIII but not in Brood XXII. Distribution magicicada usa fixed

Life cycle

Their median life cycle from egg to natural adult death is around thirteen years. However, their life cycle can range from nine years to seventeen years.

Discovery in 1998

Magicicada males typically form large aggregations that sing in chorus to attract receptive females. ''M. neotredecim'' was first identified when scientists noticed a bimodal split in the dominant pitch (frequency) of male calling songs during the 1998 emergence of Brood XIX. The dominant song pitch of ''M. neotredecim'' ranges from 1.25 kHz to 1.90 kHz. (This is similar to the pitch-range of ''M. septendecim'' except that songs of the 17-year species do not extend so far into high frequencies.) ''M. neotredecim'' song frequencies have been observed to displace upward in areas where their range overlaps with the similar ''M. tredecim'', whose dominant song pitch is lower, ranging between 1.00 kHz and 1.25 kHz. These distinctive calling songs prompted a closer look at older data concerning ''M. tredecim''. Two different forms of mitochondrial DNA, correlated with a difference in abdominal color, had already been seen in insects assigned to this species. David Marshall and John Cooley determined that these known differences correlated with the observed pitch difference in males and a corresponding pitch preference in females. The name ''M. neotredecim'' was given to the variant whose song and abdominal coloring (orange with a black lateral band or center) resemble the 17-year species ''M. septendecim''. The earlier name ''M. tredecim'' was reserved for the group whose abdomen is mostly orange and whose song has a lower pitch. The discovery of ''Magicicada neotredecim'' showed that four reproductively isolated 13-year periodical cicada species emerge together in a narrow region from southern Indiana to northwest Arkansas (encompassing sections of Broods XIX and XXIII). Elsewhere, only as many as three species can be found together.

References

External links

Sound recording of ''Magicicada neotredecim'' holotype specimen on BioAcoustica
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6731049 Lamotialnini Hemiptera of North America Insects described in 2000