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Missouri Cicada 2004Missouri Cicada 2004|
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Subjects > Animals > Insects > Cicada
Please visit the Chat11 [Cicada Picture Gallery]. Also more information on Cicadids ...
2004 is the year of the cicada in Indiana. Noisy emergences are also expected in Maryland in 2004, and Missouri . Nationwide, only 6 or so states each year experience the emergence of these insects.
JEFFERSON CITY -- If audio engineers could equal the efficiency of cicadas' vocal apparatus, stereo speakers would be the size of peanuts . . . shelled. One animal with such a prodigious talent might be fascinating. Put several hundred together in one place, however, and the resulting din can drive human listeners to distraction. That's what people in parts of Missouri are experiencing now, and what others can look forward to next spring.
Several species of cicada inhabit Missouri. The most striking difference in these insects is the duration of their life cycles. The cicada most Missourians are familiar with is commonly known as the "dog-day" or "annual" cicada, because adults of the species emerge from the ground and begin singing late in the summer. Their emergence represents the culmination of a life cycle that can take two to five years to complete. These cicadas can measure up to 2 inches from the tip of their head to the ends of their wings and are a dark green color with white markings on their bodies and wings.
Six other species, commonly called periodic cicadas, take much longer to develop from eggs into adults. Three species of periodic cicadas have 13-year life cycles, and the other three take 17 years to develop. These cicadas measure only three-quarters to 1.5 inches long and are dark colored, with reddish-colored eyes, legs and wing veins. They begin emerging from the earth in mid-May and continue singing through early July. If you have heard cicadas singing already this summer, you have been serenaded by the periodic variety.
Although dog-day cicadas take two to five years to mature, they frequently are referred to as annual cicadas. This common name is accurate insofar as dog-days cicadas can be seen every year. The period of their cycle is sufficiently frequent and irregular that individuals emerging in any given year have no difficulty finding mates and perpetuating the species.
Periodic cicadas have developed a different strategy for their development and reproduction. Instead of having about the same number of individuals emerging each year, periodic cicadas synchronize their emergence at intervals of 13 and 17 years. Curiously, both these are prime numbers. Dr. Bruce Barrett, associate professor of entomology at the University of Missouri - Columbia, says there are several theories about why periodic cicadas do things the way they do.
"Their life cycles are very well programmed," says Barrett, "which leads many people to conclude that the cycles serve some important purpose. The most common theory involves avoiding predators. By spacing their reproduction at 13- or 17-year intervals, they make it difficult for other animals to build up large populations to take full advantage of the huge amount of insect food that is available during their periodic emergences."
By synchronizing their emergence, periodic cicadas also create a source of fascination and distraction for humans. On the underside of the periodic cicada's first abdominal segment, right behind the last pair of legs, are elastic membranes not unlike the material in a high-quality stereo speaker. And what speakers! The voice of a single periodic cicada at close range renders normal conversation difficult, and the racket can be downright painful when the choir swells to dozens.
"They come out in these enormous numbers" says Father James Sullivan, a longtime observer of periodic cicadas. "Trying to count all the individuals in one tree can be almost impossible with them flying around."
Sullivan, who pastors Holy Family and St. Gerald churches in Franklin County, belongs to the Webster Groves Nature Society, marking him as a serious amateur naturalist. He first noticed an emergence of 13-year cicadas in St. Louis in 1959, when he was 18. Since then he has noted two emergences in St. Louis and much of southern Missouri. He expects another next year.
Only male periodic cicadas sing. It is their way of competing for mates. And in years when millions are emerging in different parts of Missouri, the racket they create becomes enormous. Tracking and predicting recurring emergences of periodic cicadas is part of Barrett's job. He says data from past years predicted the emergence of 17-year cicadas this year in northern Missouri. The same records indicate a high probability of a mass emergence of 17-year cicadas next year in west-central Missouri. Barrett's records also confirmed Sullivan's prediction of a 13-year-cicada emergence in the eastern half of Missouri next year.
Barrett said other upcoming cicada emergences are expected in southeastern Missouri in 2002 (13-year cycle), in central Missouri in 2006 (17-year cycle), in eastern Missouri again in 2011, in northern Missouri again in 2014 and in west-central Missouri in 2015.
According to Barrett, periodic cicadas lay their eggs in the tender shoots of young trees, occasionally causing damage to home or commercial plantings. Newly planted apple orchards, nurseries and new ornamental home landscape plantings sustain damage most often. He recommends contacting your county University of Missouri extension office or a local nursery for advice on how to protect plantings if a large-scale cicada emergence occurs in your area.
Listen to the sound of cicadas ....
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See more Cool stuff about insects
Bill Nye the Science Guy: Reptiles & Insects
Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology [MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION]
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