Cicada Exuviae Trios, Additional Exuviae at Odd Hang Spots

I've seen some odd places that cicada nymphs chose to park their shells and extract themselves. My spotting of the recent trio and solo at odd places inspired me to find other oddball exuviae discard locations I'd taken pix of. FWIW, some places might not seem so odd; that a few nymphs chose the same place around the same time is. (My previous article is about the seven exuviae on my house in a recent three-week period.)



The First Trio

The first cicada exuviae (exoskeleton) trio was at a rain shutoff device, spotted Sunday 8/18 elevenish. I might not have considered it unusual for one exuviae. Three, however, made me chuckle because they were so close to each other. I thought about threesomes—Three Stooges, Three Amigos, Three Musketeers, Kingston Trio, ….

The Rest of the Exuviae Hangups

Coincidentally, only a few minutes later at another part of the yard, another exuviae caught our eyes. While trimming some branches, the other co-trimmer thought one limb end had a particularly ugly cut. Looking closer, it turns out an exuviae was hugging it. This one might have been hanging out for awhile; closer look shows dust and tree debris. (In contrast, the trio looked pretty "clean" and shiny.)
In July 2017, a cicada molted and abandoned its shell at the front door step. The following other oddball spots were from July 2018:

• On a sidewalk curb
• On a car tire that faced the street (two different shells on two consecutive days)
• On a sago plant (another trio)

Followup Visit to The First Trio

The other day, I saw that only one exuviae still hung out at the rain shutoff device—clinging to the wire. The other two shells apparently fell off. The remaining shell looks like a good example of a nymph having found a great item to clutch in preparation for self-extraction. It successfully implemented strategy that "Photo Essay: Cicada Nymph Molts into Adult" describes:

they find a place on a tree to grab hold and ‘affix’ themselves … Beginning around dusk the Cicada nymph crawls out of the ground and up a tree to affix itself to a sturdy part. This nymph circled this branch, feeling for a strong hold. Molting is quite a process and they’ll be there awhile, so they want to make sure not to fall during the process.

Nevertheless, I used a twig for positioning the two other exoskeletons and taking additional pix for the video.

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Hangout for 7 Cicada Exuviae 7-11 Through 8-01 2019

This year's been a huge year for cicadas. I wound up with images for seven different cicada exuviae that hung at the house between July 11 and August 1, a three-week period. I've differentiated them with phonetically alphabetishmonikers. (Oddly, no exuviae were at sides nor back of house, and none at the curb.)

Date	Name	Comment
July 11	Ayy	Upside down at the porch overhang, seemingly to hug it symmetrically while defying gravity—no "glue" involved.
July 21	Bea	At a vertical part of the porch, head toward the sky. (One pic, taken with the flash on, resulted in a coppertone face-like image.)
July 24, 25	Cee	Initially at a porch column corner, head angled skyward; July 25 pix shows profile and belly-up views (porch surface). Definitely see no "glue" residue.
July 27	Dee	At porch surface and brick wall intersection, but also featuring the cicada itself on porch surface.
July 31, Aug 1	Eee	At a brick wall edge, head skyward, with nearby ant and spider.
Aug 1	Eff	Upside down at porch overhang, similar to exuviae Ayy.
Aug 1	Gee	Similarly positioned as exuviae Cee, but at a different porch and near the overhang.

The video shows more and closer details of these "visitors".
My first exposure to cicada exuviae, was in 2016, when I posted a pic (a beaut!) to LinkedIn requesting ID help. Shortly thereafter, I posted "Closeup of Molted Cicada Exoskeleton (and More Info)". A cicada exuviae (exoskeleton), imho, is fascinating for its split-back opening that displays much of the inside of the abandoned shell and inside-out "appendages". View a great, 34-second time-lapse video of a cicada emerging and vacating its shell.

One commonality of most exuviae I've spotted was the skyward position of the head. For some other exuviae, I thought it odd that they hung upside down parallel to the ground. I wondered if cicada nymphs applied some type of glue before attempting self-extraction. "Photo Essay: Cicada Nymph Molts into Adult" explains cicada nymphs' strategy for attaching their exoskeletons onto something before shellbreak:

they find a place on a tree to grab hold and ‘affix’ themselves … Beginning around dusk the Cicada nymph crawls out of the ground and up a tree to affix itself to a sturdy part. This nymph circled this branch, feeling for a strong hold. Molting is quite a process and they’ll be there awhile, so they want to make sure not to fall during the process.

Note a pic on its website and accompanying caption: "a cicada attached itself to another cicada nymph who was about to emerge."

"Bug of the Week: Cicada Nymph" complements the Photo Essay site for emphasis on the nymph stage. It also might shed light about those "appendages" I mentioned earlier.

In the back where the skin has split you can often see tiny white threads. Those are the reminants [sic] of the cicadas breathing tubes, called trachae.

My most fascinating cicada/exuviae experience was spotting a cicada emerging from its exoskeleton—"Molting Cicada Visitor at My Doorstep". It was a periodic monitoring of pic-taking and videorecording that spanned several hours. (So proud of the video I created!)

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For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).

Wasp and Cicada Together

Earlier this month, a wasp and cicada caught our eyes. I might have whipped out my measuring stick and laid it near the duo, but decided to not disturb the wasp. As it turns out, several resources claim that the wasp is likely busy and not interested in a nearby human. From Cicada Mania's "10 Facts about Cicada Killer Wasps"

They are so focused on cicadas or other Cicada Killer Wasps, that they could care less about you. Sure, if you step on one, squeeze one in your hand, or otherwise harass the insect, it might sting you. Unlike other wasps, it will not go out of its way to harm you. Play it safe, do not go near these wasps, …

The last few months have been interesting for encountering cicadas and related items—exuviae (discarded exoskeleton), cicada wasp (humongous insect), and a molting cicada visitor on my doorstep—all separate events. This incident was different—both wasp and cicada in the same scene. In looking closer at the pictures and doing Google lookups, a real oddity was the size of the pictured wasp compared to the cicada. Resources such as Cicada Mania and BugGuide.Net describe the wasps as large.

• From Cicada Mania's "10 Facts about Cicada Killer Wasps"
  "If you haven’t seen a Cicada Killer Wasp, they are large black and pale yellow wasps, and are often found carrying a cicada".
• From BugGuide.Net's "Species Sphecius speciosus - Eastern Cicada Killer"
  "30-40 mm, one of the largest North American wasps … A very large wasp with distinctive pattern and behavior."
• From Texas A&M's Agrilife site for "The Texas-sized cicada killer"
  "Cicada killer wasps are easy to spot due to their large size; they are typically 1-1/2 to two inches in length."

If you compare the pictures with numerous online images or videos of wasps flying with their prey, my wasp is an absolute peewee. As I didn't spend much time with the duo, and didn't shoot a video, I'm inferring a story. The cicada's back faces the sky. For the wasp to use the cicada as food source for its larva, it must be able to insert the egg into the cicada. In the three pix, the wasp looks waaaay too small to be able to turn the cicada onto its back.

Walking in the same area the next day, did not see either insect. Dang! Missed opportunity.

While researching sites and videos to better identify the wasp and cicada. I noted a couple of coincidences:

• A suspected cicada wasp that I'd taken a picture of the previous month resembles large cicada wasps in several images and videos, particularly "Cicada Killer Wasp (Craboninae, Sphecius speciosus)".
  
  
• The cicada's back markings for the September 13 strongly resembles the markings for the cicada in my article "Cicada Wasp N Cicada a Month Apart".
  
  

Additional video resources show wasps with cicadas. Those wasps are maybe half the size of the cicadas (unlike peewee wasp), but strong enough to haul their prey. Some of the videos also include narration about the wasps' actions on the hapless cicadas.

• "Cicada Killing Wasps"
  Good educational narration. Includes short-duration movement of wasp hauling cicada at about 50-second mark.
• "Wild Moments: Cicada Killers Usually Ignore Humans"
  At about the 55-seconc mark, the wasp starts dragging cicada. The human handling the wasp seems gutsy to me. Good narration.
• "The work of a cicada killer"
  The handler is gutsier than I'd be, as he lets the wasp haul the cicada all over him.
• "'Cicada Killer' wasp stinging (cicada)"
  Another gusty human handling wasp with cicada.
• "Cicada killer gets a lift"
  Another video that shows someone not squeamish about a wasp with cicada landing on her.
• "Cicada Killer Wasp with Cicada filmed at 210 fps"
  Excellent capture of motion of wasp in flight with cicada.
• "Cicada killer wasp stinging a cicada (laying eggs)"
  The video title says it all.
• "Huge Cicada Killer Wasp Struggles to Bring Home Her prey"
  The video title says it all.
• "Cicada killer wasp carries prey to nest"
  The video title says it all.

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Related (new, as of 9/27/2019): Cicada Wasp, Pac-Mannish Deco

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For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).

Molting Cicada Visitor at My Doorstep

Last month, on my way back from a morning walk around 8 AM, I spied a cicada partially emergent from its exoskeleton at my front door. It looked to be trapped and unable to have exited. Took pix, natch. Checked later, and found it had moved. In the course of the day (about 4 1/2 hours), the two of us took series of pix and videos. (View the finished YouTube video.)

Around mid-day, the other pictaker took a last shot of the cicada, fully extended, still drying out. Shortly thereafter, we saw it had departed, leaving the exuviae that had a more slender exit cavity than I'd seen of other vacated shells. The video is time-sequenced for cropped stills and clips. Most amazing is capturing stages of emergence and the stunning mask-like look on its back.

Note: Somehow, I missed the shelly cicada on my way out for my walk (7-ish, maybe). I either didn't spot it, or it approached the doorstep during my walk. View "Cicada Molting - Nature Time Lapse (Cicala fa la muta)" to see a couple of shelly cicadas undulating and splitting the shell backs, starting the emerging process, then completing the molting process.

Bugguide.net and Cicada Mania
Bugguide.net has been my most frequent go-to site for bugs. For this article about cicadas, Cicada Mania's "The most interesting 17 year cicada facts" bubbled to the surface as a compelling site to visit.
More worthy Cicada Mania sites:

• "Cicadas by Genus and Species"
• FAQ site

Some images from Bugguide.net's "Subfamily Cicadinae" page resemble my visitor cicada. The genus might be neotibicen ("Genus Neotibicen - Annual or Dogday Cicadas") or megatibicen ("Genus Megatibicen").
From "Genus Megatibicen"

Identification
Most members of the Megatibicen are >2.5 inches long (incl. wings). Megatibicen are often "stockier in appearance" & characteristically more pruinose (white powdery wax) than are most members of the Genus Neotibicen.

Pee Ew
One of the clips in my YouTube video shows the emergent cicada spraying a fluid. Did it pee? Sure looked like it did! Found some info and a video, although these cicadas were already free of their shells.

At Massachusetts Cicadas site (slogan: Dedicated to the Study of the Cicadas of Massachusetts and New England), "Cicada Molting/Eclosing Process" shows a timeline a timeline of the cicada's emergence. For ick factor, view the closeup of cicada pee. Cicada Mania's "Do cicadas pee?" mentions cicadas after they molt, not during. The site includes YouTube video "Cicadas - Drinking & Peeing (01Apr2012a)" of branch with emerged cicadas on it spraying away. (The spray resembles the emission as from my molting cicada visitor.)

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More articles about cicadas

Cicada Wasp N Cicada a Month Apart

The last few weeks while taking daily walks and pix, we've spotted some unusual buggy items that warranted closeups. (I’m getting better about carrying and whipping out a measuring stick so I can scale the objects.) My pixstrip with composites shows three related objects—cicada wasp (dead), cicada exoskeleton (aka "exuvia"), and cicada (dead), approximately scaled with my trusty 6” rule.

Some LinkedIn connections IDed the first bug as a cicada wasp (from June 12). Cicada wasp? It’s a wasp that zeros in on cicadas as they emerge from their hibernation. Note that the underside of the image pair shows the stinger. I created a composite with pastes of measuring stick segments and the camera pouch. I was amazed at the over-two-inch wingspan. According to "The Texas-sized cicada killer", the females have the stingers and are docile, and males don't have stingers but are aggressive.

The second image section (July 11) shows a cicada exuvia that hung vertically from a curb. You can see a hollow inside where the insect emerged from. For the image, I used masking tape to affix the measuring stick near the body length to get a sense of scale.

8/10/17, WRT to exuvia/exuviae—from Steve Schwartzman of Portraits of Wildflowers

from what I can tell, entomologists normally use the plural exuviae. The singular would indeed be exuvia, but entomologists seem not to use that form. While exuviae is formally a plural, it carries something of a singular force as a set of sloughed-off parts.
https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=exuviae
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/exuviae

The third image section (July 12) shows the topside and bottom side of a cicada. I had help from additional LinkedIn connections in IDing it. Two commenters provided the same wikipedia link (endorsement!), which conveniently includes an audio link near the picture. In the last few weeks I sure have heard a lot of the same sounds. View the following YouTube videos for closeup motions and sounds.

• “Singing Cicada”
• “Cicada makes sound !”
• “Buzzing Cicada”

View videos of cicadas starting out as muddy-looking bugs. Watch them detach from their exoskeletons and emerge as elegant, transparent-winged cicadas—

• “Amazing! Arkansas Cicada Emerging From It's Shell- Time Lapse”
• “Cicada Molting”
• "Cicada Molting - Nature Time Lapse (Cicala fa la muta)"

The following three videos show closeups of cicada wasps and their distinctive yellow markings. Two of the videos show wasps hauling their much larger prey.

• “Cicada Killer Wasp Prepares her Burrow”, cicada sights, sounds, and lots of thorough narration
• “Cicada Killer with Cicada”, wasp with burrow and lots of egg depositing
• “Cicada killer wasp stinging a cicada (laying eggs)”, no wasp with burrow, but lots of egg depositing

Past Articles about Cicadas

Last year, I had written a couple of articles about cicadas, but was more focused on the exoskeletons than the wasp predator or winged insects. Both exoskeletons in those images had wound up on the same porch column at different times. Incidentally, one set of images includes wasps, but they seem to be maybe curious paper wasps buzzing at the empty shell.

• “Closeup of Molted Cicada Exoskeleton (and More Info)”
• “New Molted Cicada Exoskeleton with Wasps”

Lots of thanks to LinkedIn people who helped ID my pictures in my feed and also commented! If you're a LinkedIn member, you can visit the following topics and images:

• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6285175365035974656 (cicada wasp)
• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6291332825807413248 (cicada)

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For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).