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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Hoppers (Auchenorrhyncha) » Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, and Treehoppers (Cicadomorpha) » Cicadas (Cicadoidea) » Cicadas (Cicadidae) » Cicadettinae » Lamotialnini » Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada) » Cassin's 17-year Cicada (Magicicada cassinii)

Species Magicicada cassinii - Cassin's 17-year Cicada

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Works Cited
Magicicada Cassini Straggler - Magicicada cassinii - male Dwarf cicada - Magicicada cassinii - female Magicicada cassini? - Magicicada cassinii Magicicada cassinii Magicicada cassinii Magicicada cassinii - male Magicicada cassinii - male Magicicada cassinii
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Auchenorrhyncha (True Hoppers)
Infraorder Cicadomorpha (Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, and Treehoppers)
Superfamily Cicadoidea (Cicadas)
Family Cicadidae (Cicadas)
Subfamily Cicadettinae
Tribe Lamotialnini
Genus Magicicada (Periodical Cicadas)
Species cassinii (Cassin's 17-year Cicada)
Other Common Names
Dwarf Cicada (misnomer)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Magicicada cassinii (Fisher) - but frequently published as cassini, probably to conform to the same suffix as Magicicada tredecassini
Orig. Comb: Cicada cassinii Fisher, 1851
Syn: cassini - spelling
Explanation of Names
Patronym for John Cassin (1813–1869), an American ornithologist.
Size
20-28 mm (1)
Identification
Entire abdomen black; late teneral individuals have grayish-brown bands on the apex of each sternite
Black pleura
Some rare individuals can have assorted orange pigmentation on the underside of the abdomen; a distinct version of this is having orange on the sternites like septendecula, but the bands are medially constricted
Range
c. and s. Great Plains to New England (1)
apparently ranges south to Dallas per this Map showing presence/absence of Magicicada reports heard while driving (2)
Life Cycle
17-year species. Years: 1981, 1998, 2015, 2032 - part of the The Kansan Brood - Brood IV (2)
Groups of males of this species, and of its relative Magicicada tredecassini, may synchronize calls and flights, giving an effect called a "giant game of musical chairs" (Michigan Cicadas).
Remarks
Fisher seems to have been active in Philadelphia, and was a colleague of John Cassin, both active in the Academy of Natural Sciences. Perhaps the same person as "J. Coleman Fisher"?
See Also
Magicicada tredecassini - almost identical in size, color and song, but has a 13-year life cycle
Print References
Fisher, J.C. 1851. On a new species of cicada. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 5: 272-275. (Full Text)
Works Cited
1.The evolutionary relationships of 17-year and 13-year cicadas, and three new species (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada).
Alexander, R.D. and T.E. Moore. 1962. Miscellaneous Publications, University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology 121: 1-59.
2.Periodical Cicadas @www.magicicada.org - John R. Cooley
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 16 June, 2006 - 1:31pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Mike Quinn, v belov, zdanko
Last updated 3 June, 2021 - 1:43am

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