The Two-Sided Story of Periodical Cicadas

Any day now, periodical cicadas will emerge across 15 states stretching from Illinois to New York and northern Georgia.

Two scientists, one who’s tracked the aboveground movements of these cicadas, and another who’s unearthed the belowground impact of these insects, take you inside the many mysteries and forgotten elements of these evolutionary enigmas.

Related Research:

• Sharp boundary formation and invasion between spatially adjacent periodical cicada broods (2021)
• Periodical cicada emergence resource pulse tracks forest expansion in a tallgrass prairie landscape (2019)
• Competition and Stragglers as Mediators of Developmental Synchrony in Periodical Cicadas (2018)
• Avian predation pressure as a potential driver of periodical cicada cycle length (2013)
• Effects of periodical cicada emergences on abundance and synchrony of avian populations (2005)
• Emergence of Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada cassini) From a Kansas Riparian Forest: Densities, Biomass and Nitrogen Flux (2001)
• Feeding ecology and emergence production of annual cicadas (Homoptera: Cicadidae) in tallgrass prairie (2001)
• The legacy of Charles Marlatt and efforts to limit plant pest invasions (2016)
• The Periodical Cicada (1907)

Scientists:

• Sandy Liebhold, Research Entomologist, Northern Research Station, Morgantown, West Virginia
• Mac Callaham, Research Ecologist, Southern Research Station, Athens, Georgia

Hey listeners! We're looking for cicada recordings! To be a part of an upcoming episode of Forestcast, record cicadas chorusing around you. In the recording, tell us where you are and who you are. Just record the cicadas on your phone and send the recording to jonathan.yales@usda.gov.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

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Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: jonathan.yales@usda.gov