birding-aus

Fwd: Cicadas in April

To: birding-aus Aus <>
Subject: Fwd: Cicadas in April
From: Allan Richardson <>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:16:47 +1000
Hi Guys,

Took a bit of a round about trip to get to Lindsay, but he's been able to reply 
to the inquiry about the apparent lateness of cicadas this season.

A good spread of information about what cicadas are up to at the moment from 
Melbourne to Brisbane for reference in your locality.

Apologies to those who might not be interested, just hit the delete 
button....now.

Kind Regards,

Allan Richardson
Morisset NSW

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lindsay Popple <>
> Date: 15 April 2013 8:57:17 AM AEST
> To: "" <>
> Subject: Cicadas in April
> 
> Hi Allan,
> 
> Now onto cicada seasonality.  Finding an emerging cicada nymph of any species 
> at this time of year in New South Wales is quite extraordinary.  If it really 
> is a Greengrocer, then it would be especially strange, because they emerge 
> mainly in October-November, with a few more in December.  Most populations of 
> that particular species disappear by sometime in January, with only a few 
> individuals persisting to February and beyond (April is extreme).  If a large 
> cicada is emerging in April, it would be more likely to be a Black Prince 
> (Psaltoda plaga), the species that Charles Hunter mentioned.  They can 
> persist until May, but that is still a late emerging individual, even for 
> Black Prince.
> 
> As far as general observation go, my cicada colleagues in Sydney have indeed 
> been finding that many species (including smaller ones) have been hanging on 
> for considerably longer than usual this season.  In most years, the cicadas 
> disappear from Greater Sydney during February-March, with only Black Prince 
> persisting into mid-late Autumn.  The same has been happening in Brisbane 
> this year, though it is less unusual to have a drawn out season here.  It is 
> likely that persistent rainfall followed by periods of warm weather have led 
> to some later emergences as well.  Another factor is that it took some time 
> for the summer to get going in some areas, with only one or two hot days 
> prior to Christmas, followed by some heat waves in January.  So for many 
> species it was a delayed season as much as it was a prolonged one.
> 
> I hope this helps.  Feel free to post any components of this message on to 
> the forum.
> 
> In any case, I have now signed up to Birding Aus - should have done that 
> years ago!
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Lindsay.

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