Lets gooo cicada time!!

The cicadas have been quieter here this year, but on any evening when we get monsoon rain some will emerge and begin to sing in the treetops. After our last rain I found a late-stage nymph crawling across my doorstep and brought it in to watch its final molt. Almost as soon as its exoskeleton began to split it lost its grip on its perch. Then its wings failed to unfold. This kind of emergence failure – and the consequent wing and leg damage – is fairly common with cicadas. The process of ecdysis is fascinating to watch. It is normally hidden from us, taking place high in the trees in darkness. But the transformation is miraculous, even when it goes wrong.

ugada nigrofasciata (cicada)

miniature insect paintings coming soon ... join my email list to stay updated

new skinny djmm lore. the rest of the pizzaplex cast are regular, possibly particularly sexy humans. Skinny DJMM is the only one that looks like that and obviously there will be an extreme focus on him

this is specifically mainly to spite the irritatingly and weirdly common thing i see in security breach comics/reinterpretations where they will keep every animatronic exactly the same but Ah! Ah! DJMM, only DJMM, always DJMM, is actually an Android/Human because that pesky giant spider form was too energy consuming/scary/something something, or literally just because

does anyone have a link to the pierce and suck cicada post I NEED it it's an emergency

While flipping over rocks in my backyard, I came across an unusual sight—the dirt underneath the rock was perforated by a number of circular holes. Upon flipping over another rock, I found my answer: the cicada nymphs were digging them! 

Cicadas spend the majority of their lives underground as nymphs. During this time, they feed on sap from tree roots, often from the tree their eggs were laid on. These little passageways are being dug in their preparation to reach the surface. 

Everyone knows that the cicada nymphs begin to enter their adult forms during midsummer, leaving their exoskeleton behind in the process. However, it is possible to find nymphs going about their business long before that! 

Speaking of midsummer: you may be aware that this summer is incredibly special: it is a summer where two separate periodical cicada broods emerge at the same time! Normally, during a ‘Double Emergence,’ the cicada broods are separated by large distances. That’s not the case this year! The 17-year (Brood XIII) and 13-year (Brood XIX) broods are actually remarkably close to one another, and even overlap in some places.

Brood XIX is actually the largest of all periodical cicada broods, and contains 4 different species of 13-year cicadas!

I believe these goobers are members of Brood XII; its territory covers the neighborhood where I live, and their bright red eyes identify them as periodicals.

Cicadas first begin to emerge when the soil is warm enough (about 17.8 degrees Celsius). However, due to climate change, this soil warming is happening earlier than it used to. Already, countless little boreholes have been spotted in Georgia and other places in the Southeast. 

Cicadas are creatures of instinct: when the ground warms, they know it’s time to leave. When they must molt, they know to climb up high. And, when they sing, they know they must sing louder and clearer than any other cicada has ever sung before. In this way, we are much more alike cicadas than we are different. 

had the thought 'it might be interesting to also collect a cicada nymph before it can molt and keep it as a wet specimen' and then immediately the concept of a cicada quietly growing underground for thirteen years to finally, finally emerge into the world only to get killed and put in a jar before it ever has a chance to stretch its wings just because some idiot thought it'd be neat nearly made me cry

Petition to be able to bring Rogier back in the DLC if you used the Mending Rune of Death

Riley's 13-Year Cicada Magicicada tredecim - Brood XIX

I want to buy cicada merch in celebration of the periodical emergence this year.

If anyone has anything to recommend, especially anything by small independent artists, I would really appreciate it!! (It's so easy to find mass-produced stuff, but it's also more likely to be cheaply made or possibly a stolen design, y'know?)

I'm looking for anything cicada-related, but especially things I can wear!

The “why does everyone abandon me” pout:

IT IS ALMOST TIME

Finalized comic from a request I got to try my hand at Golden Cicada, now with a body horror twist :3

what is UP with me finding bugs on the back of my neck/shoulders because they climbed or landed on me outside and i didn't notice. i just found a fucking ant on the back of my neck? girl when did you get there? like, i love bugs, so i'm not really mad about it but i am a little annoyed because i just sat down and then i had to get back up to take you outside. don't do that.

I finally saw a wild cicada and not just heard it!!!

Fuckin delighted to see one of the other 2099 spideyfans. Great shit you've got here!

aw, gee-- that's sweet of you to say!! im incapable of ever shutting up abt the funny future guy <3