Full side view of the dog-day cicada showing the black eyes & dark green body coloration plus the clear wings with green veins. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)
They Get No Respect:
For at least the past 7-8 weeks, the annual “dog-day” cicadas (Neotibicen canicularis) have been heard singing throughout many NJ locations.They tend to get little respect or media attention & could be called the “weak sister” of the far more publicised periodical cicada species that were present this past spring. The annual cicadas species have less dense populations & their lifecycles are usually 2-3 years compared to the 13-17 years for the periodical cicada species. However, the dog-day cicada emergence is not synchronized, therefore some will emerge every year. Like periodical cicadas, the dog-day males also sing to females to attract a mate. However, the dog-day cicada “electric buzz-saw” screams are not synchronized & even though each individual male is loud, they are not nearly as deafening nor continuous as the noise produced by periodical cicadas. Each male sings for only about 15 seconds & when their numbers in an area are relatively sparse, there is typically many intermittent periods of silence. When populations are more dense, then there may be a continuous non-synchronized buzzing sound that emanates throughout an area.
