By the time this post publishes, the vast majority of Brood X (2021) will have completed their above ground lifecycle. The vast numbers of adult Magicicada who first emerged in late April and early May will have disappeared, leaving behind their adult bodies as well as still massive numbers of exuviae (cast-off outer skins) from when they emerged as nymphs.

Preparing for the Next Generation

As the weather warmed up in the Brood X range, males began to sing and chorus, attracting females. After mating, the females could be found clinging to young branches, carefully digging into the branch and depositing eggs which will hatch in 4-6 weeks, the larvae then dropping to the ground where they will dig down, attaching themselves to the tree roots for the next 17 years.

Egg Laying Female (M. cassinii). 5 June 2021, Arlington Virginia. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

C.L Marlatt describes the process of the female’s ovipositing:

The work of the female Cicada in inserting her eggs is an interesting subject for study, and so little does she mind the presence of an observer that the operation can be closely watched without her exhibiting any alarm. (Marlatt 1898, 78)

The grooves or channels dug by the female can clearly be seen in this illustration by L.H. Joutel from Charles Pack’s Trees as Good Citizens:

Grooves cut by ovideposting female (Magicicada). Pack, Charles L. Trees as Good Citizens. 1922. Art by L.H. Joutel (1905). Contributed in BHL from the University of Toronto – Earth Sciences Library (Noranda).

Though the egg laying is generally harmless to most trees, very young trees can be damaged. “Flagging” (where portions of the twigs die off leaving brown leaves to droop down) as well as the oviposition scars are positive signs of a future new generation of Brood X. The female’s ovipositor is spear-shaped, as described by Marlatt:

The ovipositor, or twig-piercing and egg-laying organ, of the female Cicada is also a very complex instrument. It issues from a groove, or fissure, on the underside of the abdomen, and at rest is nearly concealed except at the tip by the broad overlapping sides of the eighth dorsal segment … The inclosed ovipositor is a very tough, horny instrument, spear-shaped, and serrated at the extremity, and consists of three pieces …. (Marlatt 1898, 54)

Figure 25: The Ovipositor. Marlatt, C.L. The periodical cicada: an account of Cicada septendecim, its natural enemies and the means of preventing its injury: together with a summary of the distribution of the different broods. U.S. Department of Agriculture—Bulletin no. 14. 1898. Contributed in BHL from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library.

Oviposition scars (Magicicada). 12 June 2021, Arlington Virginia. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

Cicada Songs and Chorusing

A continual singing or scream was kept up by the males, from sunrise till evening, and so loud that in a calm morning the sound was heard a full mile. (Hildreth 1830, 48)

As the 2021 Brood X emergence ends, those living in the range will find their world strangely quiet. The loud singing and chorusing of the male cicada, which can be as loud as 90-100 decibels, will stay for a lifetime with those who have heard it.

… the true sound apparatus consists of two small ear-like or shell-like inflated drums situated on the sides of the basal segment of the abdomen. These drums are caused to vibrate by the action of powerful muscles, and the sound is variously modified by adjacent smaller disks — the so-called “mirrors” or sounding boards — and issues as the peculiar note of the species, which once heard is never likely to be forgotten, or if heard again, mistaken for that of some other insect. (Marlatt 1898, 55-56)

Fig. 27: The Musical Apparatus. Marlatt, C.L. The periodical cicada: an account of Cicada septendecim, its natural enemies and the means of preventing its injury: together with a summary of the distribution of the different broods. U.S. Department of Agriculture—Bulletin no. 14. 1898. Contributed in BHL from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library.

The songs of each of the species are distinctive. In my call with Dr. Gene Kritsky, he described the M. septendecim as a high note falling in descending pitch that sounds like “phaaaaa-raoh” (hence the common name of the species, Pharaoh Cicada). Kritsky details the cicada songs in his book: A chorus of M. septendecim has been compared to the sound of 1950s sci-fi movies. M. cassinii’s song is a series of clicks followed by a buzzing sound. M. septendecula’s call is isolated buzz-clicks and then staccato buzz-clicks (Kritsky 2021, 38).

You can find recordings of the various Magicicada species on iNaturalist: M. septendecim, M. cassinii, and M. septendecula.

Figure showing Magicicada sounds. Dybas, Henry. “Population explosion — 17-year locust style.” Bulletin. Field Museum of Natural History. 41.2 (February 1970). Contributed in BHL from the University Library, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. CC-BY-NC-SA. Rights Holder: Chicago Field Museum.

Of course, for many, the songs and chorusing of the male cicadas is a rare treat. In 1970, during an emergence of Brood X in Princeton, NJ, Nobel-laureate Bob Dylan wrote of the cicada’s “sweet melody”:

And the locusts sang off in the distance
Yeah, the locusts sang such a sweet melody
Oh, the locusts sang off in the distance
Yeah, the locusts sang and they were singing for me (Bob Dylan, “Day of the Locusts”)

Near Threatened?

For those living in the areas where Brood X has appeared, it may seem perplexing that the three species of 17 Year Magicicada are listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (see the IUCN Red List for Magicicada cassini, Magicicada septendecim, and Magicicada septendecula). The IUCN’s designation of “near threatened” is actually an improvement from its previous designation of “vulnerable.”

With multiple billions to trillions of individuals spread across a large geographic area, one may ask how these species could be at risk. However, we know from examples such as the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) that species that seem vast in numbers and beyond threat can face numerous challenges from habitat loss and other human actions (see the BHL blog post, “From Billions to None: The Story of the Passenger Pigeon”).

A former tree filled lot. June 2021, Arlington Virginia. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

Even if the majority of Brood X (or other Magicicada broods) does not disappear anytime soon, there are areas where previous emergences are not happening, or not happening in large numbers. The best example of this is on Long Island where Brood X has had, practically speaking, no Magicicada sightings. Habitat loss is a major driver (both recently and historically) in Magicicada loss. The 13 and 17 year life cycle of the species, while perhaps beneficial in reducing predation, proves fatal when trees are cut down or the locations where nymphs would appear have been paved over.

Massospora cicadina

Though the 13 and 17 year cycles of Periodical Cicadas serves to keep them safe from opportunistic predators, there is one species of fungus that infects only Periodical Cicadas: Massospora cicadina.

M. septendecim infected with Massospora cicadina. 24 June 2021, Arlington Virginia. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

The M. cicadina fungus infection was first documented by Joseph Leidy in 1851:

In the spring of 1851, during the imago appearance of the seventeen-year locust, among myriads of the insect, several friends and myself found between 12 and 20 specimens, which, though living, had the posterior third of the abdominal contents converted into a dry, powdery, ochreous-yellow, compact mass of sporuloid bodies. The caudal appendages and posterior two or three abdominal rings covering the mass, were loose and easily detached, leaving the fungoid matter in the form of a cone, affixed by its base to the unaffected part of the abdomen of the insect. (Leidy 1853, 53)

In 1878, Charles Peck fully described and named the fungus, naming both the genus (Massospora) and species (Massospora cicadina):

Spore mass occupying the abdominal cavity, whitish or pale cream-color, at length exposed by the falling away of the terminal rings of the abdomen; spores subglobose or broadly elliptical, granular within, sometimes containing one to three unequal nucleoli or oil globules, .00065′ — .00085′ in diameter. (Peck 1879, 44)

Massospora cicadina Peck. Speare, A. T. 1921. “Massospora cicadina Peck: A Fungous Parasite of the Periodical Cicada.” Mycologia. 13 (2): 72–82. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Recent research by Boyce, et al. provides an extended genetic analysis for M. cicadina and explores the chemical basis for behavioral changes caused by M. cicadina:

Several studies have reported hypersexual behaviors in Massospora-infected cicadas, where male cicadas, in addition to typical mating behavior, also attract copulation attempts from conspecific males (5,7; table S1). This “extended phenotype” of Massospora hijacks cicadas, turning them into efficient vectors for conidial transmission. (Boyce, et al., 2018, 3)

Brood X: Cicada Safari and iNaturalist

Brood X is appearing at a time of great interest by people all around the world in helping create research quality data for scientists. The Cicada Safari app logged nearly 20,000 images a day during peak observations. In a conversation with Dr. Kritsky of Mount St. Joseph University, he noted that Cicada Safari is on track to document nearly 500,000 observations of Magicida this year. As I discussed with Kritsky, the sheer bulk of this data will be invaluable to researchers for years to come.

Dr. Gene Kritsky. Image credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

Another important citizen science project is iNaturalist. Contributors to iNaturalist are also providing invaluate data on Brood X. Contributors are asked to provide additional species information (when known) and other iNaturalist participants verify or confirm both species as well as other data points on the observations. In a conversation with Carrie Seltzer (Stakeholder Engagement Strategist for iNaturalist), she noted:

More than 4,400 people across the Eastern United States submitted over 19,000 Magicicada observations this year to iNaturalist. We look forward to learning what insights emerge from these records, and how they complement data from more targeted apps like Cicada Safari.

I spoke with a few of the top iNaturalist observers/identifiers of Magicicada for their experiences with Brood X this year.

iNaturalist Screenshot.

Roshan Vignarajah (roshan2010) is one of the top observers/identifiers in iNaturalist. This is Roshan’s first Magicicada emergence. He shared with me:

I have been interested in insects for most of my life, and I have been waiting for the emergence since the Brood X stragglers emerged in 2017. Once I learned about the 3 species, I was hooked. I love observing larger insects which makes cicadas (specifically Magicicada) the perfect subject. I also have an interest in Lepidoptera (especially moths).

Vignarajah has also spotted four of the blue-eyed Magicicada (see examples of M. cassinii and M. septendecim). He will miss many things when Brood X’s emergence fades, “especially the constant drone of the choruses and having a constant stream of cicadas to enjoy and photograph.”

Adrienne van den Beemt (mmmmbugs) is a science teacher and naturalist in the Washington, DC area. This is her third Magicicada emergence. She noted:

I have loved watching this emergence. It has been hard sometimes to teach classes outside when the cicadas are so loud, and some students have a genuine fear which makes it difficult for them. As a science teacher and naturalist, I am always interested in what’s going on in the natural world. One thing I appreciate about iNaturalist is that it provides a way for the public to interact with scientists and naturalists. I love being able to help people identify a plant or a bug- and then to be able to continue the conversation if they have further questions, or if another user suggests a different identification.

Zachary Dankowicz (zdanko) is the top observer/identifier of M. septendecula. They commented:

This is my first experience, I’d only ever heard of the emergences from older family members, and it got me quite excited! I started just photographing them and trying to get all of the species, and as I got more involved in observing them, I learned a lot through other people and outside resources like cicadamania.com about how to identify them. One thing led to another, and now I’m the top observer and identifier for Magicicada septendecula, my favorite, and the most elusive, species of the 17-year cicadas! I’ve observed over 400 M. septendecim, so that’s definitely my top observed species, but it’s somewhat of a phase. My primarily observed taxon is a mix of Dipterans and Cicadellids, as they tend to be the ones that catch my eye most often.

I’ll miss going to my favorite septendecula spot and picking up cicadas one by one to check the abdomen. One thing I found quite interesting was that in the very beginning of the emergence, there were barely any septendecula in the places that I checked. All of the sudden, one day I found 5, and the next day 4, and the day after that 4, etc.

Jessee J. Smith (weecorbie) is another top observer/identifier and manages the Brood X Cicadas: 2021 iNaturalist project page. She told me:

My first experience with Magicicada in 1987 made a deep impression. I took entomology in college in spite of the fact that I was an English/art major at the time, and it made me swap my English major for one in natural science. I began working with Magicicada in a research capacity with Brood III in 1997, and I’ve helped out with field surveys and publications ever since. It’s a good thing that I’m very fond of cicadas, because I’m married to Gene Kritsky, and it would be impossible to avoid them for that reason alone. We’ve had a lot of adventures together in the course of our cicada surveys.

Among the highlights for Smith this year were “how many cicadas I saw with aberrant coloration; I found quite a few cassini with piebald orange patches, or with entirely orange abdomens.”

When the 2021 emergence ends, Smith won’t just miss the sight of all those Magicicada:

I’ll miss the chorusing, which peaked around our house at 90 dB (and that’s really loud), but which I especially enjoy in the evening when the cicadas are winding down for the night. There’s something restful about the occasional muttering rasps of cassinii in the gloaming, combining with the steady ticking of a few septendecula here and there.

At the time of writing (1 July 2021), iNaturalist had tallied the following:

• 21,694: Magicicada (genus)
• 8,710: M. septendecim
• 3,104: M. cassinii
• 509: M. septendecula

As a final note, Seltzer commented, “There are interesting opportunities to infer absence of cicadas from areas that had other iNaturalist observations during the Brood X emergence, but no cicada observations. Although imperfect, it may help control for (or at least highlight) areas with less observer effort.”

Magicicada 2038

Over the last weeks of June and into July, the last of the adult Magicicada will complete their breeding cycle and egg laying. The eggs deposited in tree branches will hatch and the larvae will drop to the ground, burrowing down to attach themselves to the tree roots and settle down for another 17 years.

The world that Brood X (2021) emerged into changed significantly from 2004 when they dug into the ground. The information gathered this year will inform the study for when they next emerge. What our shared world will look like in 2038 is something both humans and Magicicada will find out together.

Magicicada eggs. 28 June 2021, Arlington Virginia. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

My Observation Highlights of Brood X

• First adult observation (likely Magicicada septendecim): 10 May 2021
• First confirmed observation (Magicicada septendecim): 14 May 2021
• First observation of teneral stage (Magicicada, likely M. septendecim): 15 May 2021
• First Observation (Magicicada cassinii): 20 May 2021
• First Observation (Massospora cicadina): 24 May 2021
• First Observation, mating (Magicicada septendecim): 26 May 2021
• First Observation (Magicicada septendecula): 27 May 2021
• First Observation, ovipositing (Magicicada septendecim & Magicicada cassinii): 5 June 2021
• Last Observation of living Magicicada (M. cassinii): 16 June 2021

Screenshot: iNaturalist.

References and Additional Suggested Reading

Boyce, Greg, et al. 24 July 2018. Discovery of psychoactive plant and mushroom alkaloids in ancient fungal cicada pathogens. bioRxiv. Preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/375105

Dybas, Henry. 1970. Population explosion — 17-year locust style. Bulletin (Field Museum of Natural History) 41(1): 11-13. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2890663

Hildreth, S.P. 1830. Notices and Observations on the American Cidada, or Locust. The American Journal of Science and Arts. 18: 47-50. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30953560

Kritsky, Gene. 2021. Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition. Ohio Biological Survey. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1246784386

Leidy, Joseph. 1853. Upon Pseudo-Entophyta, etc. In: Flora and Fauna within Living Animals. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 5: 50-54. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9049946

Peck, Charles H. 1879. Report of the Botanist. Massopora, gen. nov. 31st Annual report on the New York State Museum of Natural History. 31:44. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35614048

Speare, A. T. 1921. “Massospora cicadina Peck: A Fungous Parasite of the Periodical Cicada”. Mycologia. 13(2): 72–82. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46097338

The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti), under the synonym Stegomyia fasciata. Source: Howard, L. O. (Leland Ossian). Mosquitoes; how they live; how they carry disease; how they are classified; how they may be destroyed. 1901. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Aedes aegypti, dubbed the yellow fever mosquito, is a globally invasive, pervasive threat to human health. As the common name suggests, the species can carry a range of diseases, including not only yellow fever but also dengue, the Zika virus, and the chikungunya virus. It is responsible for an estimated 400 million infections each year.[1]

Originating in Africa, Aedes aegypti has spread across the globe, initially transported via ships carrying enslaved people to the Americas. Soon after, trade ships bearing goods like sugar from the Americas brought the species to Europe, and from there it eventually made its way to Asia by way of the Suez Canal. Aedes aegypti’s success is secured by its ability to survive in a range of tropical, subtropical and temperate regions and its threat is exacerbated by its ability to breed in clean water supplies and propensity to bite during the day, rendering protective bed nets ineffective. The effects of climate change are expected to increase A. aegypti’s potential range significantly, escalating the urgency of implementing effective species control methods.[1,2]

Notonecta indica perched on a piece of wood. Photo courtesy of: Gavin Campbell.

The aquatic insect Notonecta indica—a species in the family Notonectidae, commonly called backswimmers because they swim on their backs—preys on Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the Americas. Gavin Campbell, a PhD candidate at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, is researching this predator / prey relationship as part of his PhD. Specifically, Campbell hopes to quantify the control of Aedes aegypti by Notonecta indica by determining how many mosquitoes each adult predator can consume daily and throughout their lifetimes.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) has been an invaluable resource for this research.

“Thanks to the articles from BHL, I was able to substantiate my data with the foundational data to prove that other researchers have found similar things,” shares Campbell. “Before I found the BHL resources, I was only able to find a single paper from 2020 that was able to offer anything close to my research. I am very grateful for these and other documents I have come across since then.”

Gavin Campbell, a PhD candidate at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, collecting water samples from a pond as egrets fly around. Photo courtesy of Gavin Campbell.

Campbell has been studying the aquatic and terrestrial phases of temporary ponds since 2017, with the life history of Notonecta indica and its impact on mosquito populations being a major component of that research. As Campbell explains on his website, “temporary waters are bodies of water which recurrently dry”, ranging from the minute—”water inside a snail shell”—to the massive—”the sizes of lakes and rivers”. As these bodies may be “freshwater, brackish, saline and even hypersaline (saltier than the sea)”, a wide variety of species are adapted to live in these diverse ecosystems.[3]

Campbell regularly uses BHL to access historic documents related to his research, typically downloading selected pages as PDF files to read offline.

“BHL has been critical in providing me with baseline information for my research as the documents in question were difficult to find,” asserts Campbell.

A variety of Notonecta species, including Notonecta indica (fig. 2). Source: Hungerford, H. B. The Genus Notonecta of the World. 1933. Contributed in BHL from Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library.

Of all of the titles in BHL’s collection, The Genus Notonecta of the World (1933) by H. B. Hungerford has had the greatest impact on Campbell’s research. Published in The University of Kansas Science Bulletin, the work attempted to assemble all available information about the Notonecta genus, noting that more than thirty years had passed since the last comprehensive account of the genus was published. The publication represented twelve years of research, during which Hungerford consulted both the original descriptions and the types in museums throughout North America and Europe in an effort to “account for every named species”. The work was illustrated in color by Kathleen Doering.[4]

The Genus Notonecta of the World helped Campbell perform species identifications and capitalize on various behavioral aspects. For example, Hungerford notes that eggs are deposited on hard surfaces. Campbell applied this knowledge to his own work by placing a mesh within his rearing container, which facilitated easy removal of eggs each day. Hungerford also provides useful details about Notonecta behaviour in natural environments. For example, in a pond which N. indica frequents during the rainy season, a large number of branchiopods are present, which Hungerford notes are a food source for N. indica’s younger stages. This thus serves as a contributing factor in their dispersal and biology.

The illustrations in The Genus Notonecta of the World were also useful for Campbell’s research, helping him identify organs and structures within individuals and distinguish males and females for successful mating and to help determine differences in mosquito consumption between males and females.

“The BHL was key to providing access to the valuable information in this publication, as few papers at present go into such detail on the family,” affirms Campbell. “Without the BHL providing access to this foundational article, I would have been set back and hindered in my research.”

With Aedes aegypti expected to pose continued, significant threats to human health, we are proud to know that BHL is empowering important research that can help scientists better-understand the species and implement effective control methods. As Campbell shares, “With a better understanding of the role of N. indica in mosquito control, I aim to create and support more habitats for these natural predators to suppress mosquito populations, using nature-based solutions to address the extensive effects of climate change.”

As Campbell’s testimonial demonstrates, immediate, online access to biodiversity literature is ever-more important, allowing research to proceed more quickly and efficiently and improving our ability to respond to the many crises facing our planet and our species today. We look forward to continuing to provide researchers like Gavin Campbell with the essential literature they need to empower their work—anytime, anywhere.

Thank you @BioDivLibrary for this and so many other treasures pic.twitter.com/qDkfTH0kSc

— ?️‍?Gavin Campbell ?️‍? (@dragonecology) July 1, 2020

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References

Three hundred and seventy-four years ago on 2 April 1647, a remarkable woman was born: the artist and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. In the 17^th and 18^th century world of male-dominated science, Merian had to fight for her place in the natural sciences. Against all odds, she became a trailblazer, especially in developmental biology.

Portrait of Maria Sybilla Merian by Jacob Marrell, 1679.  From the collection of: Kunstmuseum Basel.

Merian’s legacy was recently explored during a 4-week student-project at the library of the Museum für Naturkunde (MfN) in Berlin. The project was part of a master’s program for the University of Applied Science in Leipzig to enlarge the student’s experience in the historical holding field and give a glimpse into the planning and conducting of a project. The aim of the project itself was and is the digitization of two different editions of Merian’s work, Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, as well as a restorative and provenance research summary about the volumes. Both editions show Merian’s talent in painting and observing insects and plants.

Merian’s fascination with flowers and painting had its origin with her stepfather Jacob Marrel, a known flower painter of the time, who took her under his wing. Despite her mother’s wish, who considered painting too “masculine,” Merian learned how to draw and engrave from Marrel and by the age of eleven, she was able to engrave on copper independently (Kutschera 2017: 28). At the age of twelve, she developed a heightened interest in exploring the nature around her and was especially fascinated by the metamorphosis of silk worms. Merian conducted her own studies, feeding the silkworm larvae and observing their transformation. Thus, her collection of different caterpillar species started to grow.

Examples of flowers and insects. Found in: Merian, Maria Sybilla. De Europischen insecten, v.3. 1730. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

In 1665, shortly after her 18th birthday, Merian married Johann Andreas Graff (1636-1701)—a marriage that ended in divorce nearly 30 years later in 1692. Merian published her first work, the flower book Neues Blumenbuch, in 1675. It contained examples for the students of her painting and embroidery classes. She did not lose her interest in the metamorphosis of species, however, and published her first book about caterpillars in 1679 under the name Der Raupen Wunderbare Verwandelung und Sonderbare Blumennahrung (engl. “The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Remarkable Diet of Flowers”). The “Anderer Theil” (engl. “Other volume”) followed in 1683.

In 1685, Merian moved with her two young daughters to a community of Labadists in Friesland. There, the exotic butterflies from Suriname in the collection of the castle Waltastate served as a template for new paintings and sparked her interest towards this exotic country. It was also the place she observed and recorded the metamorphosis of the frog in 1686 for the very first time, 13 years before Antonie van Leeuwenhoek documented it in a letter to the Royal Society (Nagendra 2016: 122). However, the small family did not stay in Friesland for long and moved to Amsterdam in 1690. With the help of other naturalists and the caterpillars they brought with them, the three women established themselves as artists.

Through the connections Merian made in Holland, she met travellers that came back from the Dutch colony Suriname with collections full of colourful insects. Although these were pretty to look at, the collections lacked the information about the insects’ developments.

“In Holland, I saw with wonderment the beautiful creatures brought back from the East and West Indies, especially when I had the honour to be able to see the splendid collection belonging to […] Dr Nicolaas Witsen […] and many others, in which I found these and countless other insects, but without their origins and subsequent development, in other words, how they develop from caterpillars into chrysalises and so on. All this stimulated me to undertake a long and costly journey to Suriname […] in order to pursue my investigations further.” (Merian & O’Brien-Twohig 2012: 2)

Merian’s decision to travel to Suriname, a country known for the death of many travelers due to tropical diseases at the time, as a divorced 52-year-old woman was quite scandalous. On top of that, Merian managed to finance herself independently by selling her paintings beforehand.

In 1699, Merian and her youngest daughter Dorothea Maria boarded a ship to Suriname. They arrived in Paramaribo and quickly learned that the Dutch colonists were not interested in helping them in their mission to locate and study the foreign insects. Instead, Merian relied on the assistance and knowledge of the Indigenous and African people enslaved on the Dutch sugar plantations.

Over the next two years, Merian and her daughter spent time exploring the jungle, canoeing rivers and painting every plant and insect they could find. Everything that they collected, from the information to the first artworks, went into Merian’s journal. Unfortunately, the pair returned home in 1701, earlier than expected, when Merian became ill, possibly with malaria. As a result, her stay on a plantation near the riverside of Paramaribo was cut short by three years.

Merian presented the results from her trip in the Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium, first published in 1705. In it, 60 plates show the variety of the vibrant colours of the rainforest, each accompanied with information about their practical use, medical remedies, or general studies about the development of the insects and plants. A lot of her knowledge about the usage came from the enslaved people of the Suriname plantations. It is unclear whether Merian herself bought the enslaved people with whom she worked or if they were a gift when she first arrived (Davis 1996: 210).

Merian herself wrote on plate 36 about the plant Costus arabicus:

“I had my Indian dig [Costus arabicus] up by the root and carry it home and plant it in my garden” as well as that “because the forest is so densely grown with thistles and thorns, I had to send my slaves ahead of me with axes to hack out an opening for me.”

Therefore, while she writes about the help she received from enslaved people, unlike many other explorers and naturalists of her time, she still did not credit them by names (Baumhammer & Kennedy 2017: 213). In her publication, they remain an anonymous source of information.

Costus arabicus, a Banana Stem Borer Moth, and an unidentified butterfly. Found in: Merian, Maria Sybilla. Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium. 1705. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

In a later part of the book, there is a hard breach between the beautiful painting of the Peacock flower and Merian’s description of the usage of said flower. She writes that enslaved women told her about the horrible treatment from the Dutch and their use of the seeds to cause abortions and save their children from the same enslaved fate.

The focus of Merian’s criticism was mainly on the Dutch farming practices and not on the brutal treatment of the enslaved people. She could not understand how the Dutch ignored the richness and diversity of the flora around them and only planted sugar. Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert suggests that Merian was interested only in sharing scientific findings from her time in Suriname. “Full of groundbreaking information to communicate to a world avid for scientific knowledge, she was not gifted with a facile pen for anything other than scientific fact” (Paravisini-Gebert 2012: 12). While this might explain her lack of a more pronounced criticism of slavery, it does not condemn the fact that she took an enslaved woman with her back to Amsterdam as indicated by the passenger list for the sailing back home. This woman was most likely the person Merian referenced as “my Indian” from the text about Costus arabicus (Davis 1996: 212; Polcha 2019).

There is no mention in the sources about Merian’s behaviour towards the enslaved people on whom she relied, but Merian did participate in the racial hierarchies of trans-national colonialism. While she may have broken gender rules and created brilliant works of art, Merian ultimately profited from the suffering of others.

Merian’s reliance on and usage of the information and help she received from enslaved people must not be ignored, as it opens the discussion about how slavery affected her work and how she benefited from it. Merian would likely not have had access to most of the plants and insects described in her book without the help from enslaved African and Indigenous people, especially since the Dutch colonists did not support her studies. Would there have been a Metamorphosis without Merian using and exploiting the established oppression?

Ultimately, Metamorphosis did not sell as well as previously hoped and Merian lived in modesty. Her plans to publish translations of the book could not succeed due to the expense. She died poor on 13 January 1717, probably the same day Czar Peter the Great bought her remaining paintings (Nagrenda 2016: 118; Kutschera 2017: 30; Pieters & Winthagen 1999: 6).

The peacock flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) with its seeds and the life cycle of the Caroline Sphinx Moth (Manduca sexta). Found in: Merian, Maria Sybilla. Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium. 1705. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

The beforehand mentioned project at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin revolved around the Dissertation sur la generation et les transformations des insectes de Surinam (published in 1726) and the three volumes of Histoire générale des insectes de Surinam et de toute l’Europe (published in 1771). These editions used the copper plates from the original Metamorphosis print. Although they lack the vivid colours of their original counterpart, the black and white engravings still show the broad diversity of the Suriname (and European) insects and plants. Currently the library awaits the arrival of a new book scanner to digitize these four books, as they were too large for the scanner currently in use. They should be available in BHL by the end of the year (2021).

The Dissertation contains twelve more plates, two of which Merian did not make herself. These two plates and their explanation were full of errors. Due to this and wrongly coloured plates in later editions, Merian was harshly criticized despite showing and explaining nearly everything right in her own coloured and published edition (Pieters & Winthagen 1999: 10; Nagrenda 2016: 121). However, “the many racist, sexist, plain nasty (and ignorant) 19th century critiques of her work in Surinam only serve to highlight the remarkable and path-breaking nature of her work in the 17th century” (Nagendra 2016: 121).

The three volumes of Histoire générale des insectes de Surinam et de toute l’Europe furthermore included the European insects as well, using original drawings from Merian, too. The Museum’s copies were a donation by the Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin (G.n.F., engl. “Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science”) when they closed their library in 1907. It is unknown who bought them for the G.n.F. but they were acquired between 1793 and 1828. Handwritten annotations show that the same person used the books. Furthermore, the copy at the Museum shows one of the incorrect plates is upside down, which ironically highlights the errors.

Comparison of the incorrect copy of Histoire générale des insectes de Surinam et de toute l’Europe in the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Photo Credit: Antonia Trojok.

Alongside these four books, another was found and digitized from the MfN collection: a German edition of a volume from Historiae naturalis by John Johnston, for which Maria Sibylla Merian’s older half-brothers, Matthäus and Caspar Merian, made the copper plates. You can find their names engraved on two plates in the books. The siblings learned alongside each other during their childhood as Jacob Marrel’s students. This title testifies to the artistic talent that ran in the family, given the detail included even for those animals of purely fantastical origins.

Plate of fantastical creatures. Found in: Decker, Johannes. Naturgeschichte aus den besten Schriftstellern : mit Merianischen und neuen Kupfern. 1772. Digitized in BHL by Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.

In conclusion, the editions in the Museum für Naturkunde and many other instances show that Maria Sibylla Merian’s legacy for natural science still lives on. Merian was also the first European to do a voyage for a solely scientific purpose (Valiant 1993: 470) and recorded the life cycle of a frog. The Father of Taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, as well as many more scientists cited her work throughout the years. However, we cannot highlight her legacy without also confronting her use of enslaved labour and acknowledging and respecting the impact that enslaved and Indigenous people in Suriname had on her work. Without them, Merian probably would not have shown the diversity of the rainforest for the first time.

With Merian’s legacy digitized, even more researchers and nature lovers can now enjoy her work in the future. Hopefully, these digitized copies will also inspire continued research into the extent and impact of the enslaved African and Indigenous people who contributed to this ground-breaking work.

You can read the first edition (in Dutch) of Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium (1705)—freely available in BHL thanks to Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. Or check out Merian’s drawings from the first edition on the BHL Flickr page.

References

Davis, Natalie Zemon. 1996. Drei Frauenleben – Glikl – Marie de l’Incarnation – Maria Sibylla Merian. Berlin, Wagenbach.

Baumgarten, Megan & Kennedy Claire. 2017. Merian and the Pineapple: Visual Representation of the Seneses, in: Hacke, D. & Musselwhite, P. (eds.), Empire of the senses: Sensory practices of colonialism in early America, Boston, Brill, 190–222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004340640.

Kutschera, Ulrich. 2017. Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) – Pionieren der Entwicklungsbiologie und Ökologie, Biologie in unserer Zeit 47(1), 28–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/biuz.201710610

Nagendra, Harini. 2016. Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), Resonance 21(2), 115–124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12045-016-0305-9

Merian, Maria Sibylla & O’Brien-Twohig, Sarah. 2012. from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (Or, Transformations of Surinamese Insects ), Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas 45(1), 21–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08905762.2012.670451

Pieters, Florence. & Winthagen, Diny. 1999. Maria Sibylla Merian, naturalist and artist (1647-1717): A commemoration on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of her birth, Archives of natural history 26(1), 1–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.1999.26.1.1

Polcha, Elizabeth. 2019. Breeding Insects and Reproducing white Supremacy in Maria Sibylla Merian’s Ecology of Dispossession. https://www.ladyscience.com/breeding-insects-and-reproducing-white-supremacy/no57

Valiant, Sharon. 1993. Maria Sibylla Merian: Recovering an Eighteenth-Century Legend, Eighteenth-Century Studies 26(3), 467–479. https://doi.org/10.2307/2739414

On 10 May, I had my first sighting of this year’s periodical cicada in Northern Virginia. For seventeen years, three species of Magicicada, the periodical cicada (M. septendecim, M. cassinii, M. septendecula)[1], have been living about 61 cm (2 feet) underground beneath trees across portions of eastern North America. In May 2021, individuals in Brood X (sometimes known as the Great Eastern Brood) began to emerge in the trillions from their long sojourn when soil temperature reached a consistent temperature of 18 degrees C (64 degrees F) or higher.

The last time Brood X emerged was in 2004. For those who witnessed that appearance, or previous ones, Brood X at times feels like a science fiction movie with the creatures swarming and the loud (up to 90 decibel) mating song of the males drowning out conversations (I wonder how the rest of the world will react to our Zoom call being joined by singing cicadas!).

Magicicada are mostly harmless, neither biting nor stinging. Members of the order Hemiptera, the nymphs spend their underground life harmlessly consuming xylem fluids from the roots of deciduous forest trees; the adult female, which deposits its eggs in small slits cut into the ends of branches, rarely causes damage to mature trees and there is speculation that the cicada pruning leads to more abundant leafing and fruiting the following year.

Photos capturing the author’s first observations of the Brood X emergence. Photos show the life cycle of the periodical cicada from nymph to adult. Shown here: Periodical cicada nymph. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

Photos capturing the author’s first observations of the Brood X emergence. Photos show the life cycle of the periodical cicada from nymph to adult. Shown here: Periodical cicada shedding its nymph exoskeleton. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

Photos capturing the author’s first observations of the Brood X emergence. Photos show the life cycle of the periodical cicada from nymph to adult. Shown here: An adult periodical cicada that has not yet completed its transformation. Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

Photos capturing the author’s first observations of the Brood X emergence. Photos show the life cycle of the periodical cicada from nymph to adult. Shown here: An adult periodical cicada next to its nymph exoskeleton (exuviae). Photo credit: Martin Kalfatovic.

Early Accounts

Known to Native Americans for generations, the first known mention of periodical cicada literature is by William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633 (Kritsky 2001, 1). A more detailed (and somewhat inaccurate) account was printed thirty-three years later in the Philosophical Transactions (London) in 1666 by Henry Oldenburgh:

A great Observer, who hath lived long in New England, did upon occasion, relate to a Friend of his in London, where he lately was, That some few Years since there was such a swarm of a certain sort of Insects in that English Colony, that for the space of 200 Miles they poson’d and destroyed all the Trees of that Country; there being found innumerable little holes in the ground, out of which those Insects broke forth in the form of Maggots, which turned into Flyes that had a kind of taile or sting, which they struck into the Tree, and thereby envenomed and killed it. (Oldenburgh 1666, 137)

The first significant documentation by Europeans of what came to be known as Brood X occurred in Philadelphia in 1715 when they were reported by Reverend Andreas Sandel (Kritsky 2021, p.53). In 1748, the Swedish naturalist, Pehr Kalm, travelled to North America to observe the 1749 emergence of Brood X. Kalm comments:

You could hardly find one tree, not in gardens or in the forest, where the trunks were not covered with them. Some had just come out of their shells, while others were still in the process of emerging, so they were half in and half out. Some had started to try their wings. It was remarkable that on the previous day, May 21st there were none to be found. (Kalm 1756, 107; Translation by E.L. Lewis [Davis, J.J 1953])

The various life stages of the periodical cidada (Magicicada septendecim). Marlatt, C.L. The periodical cicada: an account of Cicada septendecim, its natural enemies and the means of preventing its injury: together with a summary of the distribution of the different broods. U.S. Department of Agriculture—Bulletin no. 14. 1898. Art by C.V. Riley and L. Sullivan. Contributed in BHL from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library.

Kalm’s account, published in 1756, became the basis for Linné’s first scientific description and classification of the periodicical cicada in the 1758 edition of Systema Naturae (10th ed.). Linné’s classification of the periodical cicada placed it in the genus Cicada.

Magicicada

Additional investigations in the early 20th century led entomologist William T. Davis to look more closely at the taxonomy of the 13- and 17- year cicadas and propose a new genus, Magicicada, for the (then) two species of 17-year cicada and the four species of 13-year cicada. Davis noted in his paper with this revision that:

It is evident from the foregoing that our well known red-eyed Seventeen-Year Cicada does not belong where it has been placed, in fact Distant states in his 1905 paper, already cited, in describing his Division Tibicinaria, that Tibicina septendecim “possesses several aberrant characters.” The writer therefore proposes that this important and interesting species be the type of a new genus and be called Magicicada septendecim (Linn.). (Davis 1925, 44)

The term “Brood X” evolved from naturalists trying to make sense of the different emergences across the cicada range. C.L. Marlatt in his important work on cicadas notes:

Of the upward of twenty broods which have been differentiated, most of them have been carefully studied, chronological records collected, and the limits of distribution fairly well determined. For convenience of reference, these broods have been designated by Roman numerals, as Brood VI, Brood XXVI, etc. (Marlatt 1898, 19)

Transformation of the periodical cicada (Magicicada septendecim) from the mature nymph to the adult. Snodgrass, R.E. The Periodical Cicada. Insects, their ways and means of living. Smithsonian Scientific Series, v.5 (1930). Art by R.E. Snodgrass. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Magicicada cassinii

Cicada septendecim was the single species of periodical cicada described by Linné in 1758. A second species in the genus, M. cassinii, was described and published by J.C. Fisher in 1852 and named after his friend and fellow observer, the ornithologist, John Cassin. But, should Fischer and Cassin really get full credit for this discovery? In the 9 May 2021 issue of Scientific American, Catherine McNeur argues that Pennsylvania entomologist Margaretta Hare Morris’ contribution has been erased and that she deserves the credit for identifying the species that Fisher named, C. cassinii (McNeur 2021).

Portrait of entomologist Margaretta Hare Morris. Source: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Caption from Wikimedia Commons: “19th-century cased photograph from the University of Delaware Library’s Special Collections.” Image taken by Evan Krape for the University of Delaware.

As women could not be members of the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia) at the time, Morris’ paper describing her findings was read by Professor Johnson during the 15 December 1846 meeting of the Academy. She was later admitted to the Academy in 1859 (having previously been admitted to the Association for the Advancement of Science in 1850 along with astronomer Maria Mitchell as the two first women members) (Academy of Natural Sciences 1859, 354). Morris’ 1846 paper is important not just for potentially identifying a new species, but for noting the way the cicada larvae attach themselves to the roots of trees for the extended period of time they are underground. Morris clearly describes, though without an explicit description, what she posits is a new species:

The larvae were enclosed in a compact cell of earth, with no outlet except that in immediate contact with the root, and as there were no galleries or holes leading from these cells, I infer that the grubs never leave the roots they first fasten on; which may account for the great difference of size; the small ones being starved specimens of the same brood: though I am inclined to believe that there are two species, differing sufficiently in size to account for the discrepancy in size of the larvae found. I noticed this difference in 1817, and again in 1834: the note of the smaller variety, or species, is much shriller than that of the larger, and will never be mistaken when noticed. (Morris 1846, 133) [emphasis added]

Fisher’s description, published six years later in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, is a more typical species description:

… the attention of its members was directed by Mr. John Cassin to the fact that two species had been confounded, and that the insect regarded as the smaller variety was in fact a distinct species, a conclusion at which he had arrived during their previous appearance in 1834 … I propose on these grounds to characterize the smaller species as follows: — Cicada Cassinii, nobis. ♂ total length of body, 9-10ths of an inch of the wings, 1 2-10ths inches; ♀ frequently smaller. (Fischer 1852, 272)

Comparison of two 17-year periodical cicada species: Magicicada septendecim (left, A) and Magicicada cassinii (right, B). Marlatt, C.L. The periodical cicada: an account of Cicada septendecim, its natural enemies and the means of preventing its injury: together with a summary of the distribution of the different broods. Bureau of Entomology—Bulletin no. 71. 1907. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Following Fisher’s description, Cassin adds his own note, focusing, like Morris, on the differing calls of the species:

It was therefore highly gratifying to me to have an opportunity of calling the attention of gentlemen of this Academy to the smaller species which Professor Fisher has done me the honor of naming as above, and particularly to its note. This is quite different from the prolonged and loud scream of the larger species, (which is C. septendecim, Linn.) and begins with an introductory clip, clip, quite peculiar. No disposition to associate with each other exists between the two species, and although I have seen both on the same tree, yet most frequently they were entirely separated, and occupied different parts of the woods. (Cassin 1852, 273)

Interestingly, Cassin cites an earlier observation by S.P. Hildreth (published in 1830) that delineates two varieties of periodical cicadas differing by size and song:

There appeared to be two varieties of the cicada, one much smaller than the other: there was also a striking difference in their notes. The smaller variety were more common in the bottom lands, and the larger in the hills. A continual scream was kept up by the males during the day, but they were silent through the night. (Hildreth 1830, 48)

Clearly, observers had noted that the apparent single species, M. septendecim, showed evidence that there were perhaps two varieties (as per Hildreth) or, more significantly, species (as per Morris). Fischer and Cassin clearly knew of and cited Hildreth’s observation, but were either unaware of, or consciously ignoring, Morris’ relatively recent paper (ironically presented just a few years earlier at the very Academy of Natural Sciences where their description was published).

Though Morris’ contributions to entomology (including additional publications on cicadas, e.g. Morris 1851) were recognized in her admission to prestigious scientific organizations, her important observations on what would become M. cassinii were lost for many years and her work deprecated. As late as 1947, in a short note on “Early Feminine Entomologists in America”, it is commented that “Her entomological conclusions were not always correct.” (New York Entomological Society 1947, 280)

As a final note, rounding out the three species of periodical cicadas was the description of the third species, Magicicada septendecula, described in 1962 (Alexander and Moore 1962, 9).

Magicicada 2021

The 2021 Brood X appearance provides a great citizen science opportunity. Cicada Safari has been developed by Dr. Gene Kritsky working with the Center for IT Engagement at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati specifically to enable those in the range of Brood X to help naturalists document the appearance this year.

The periodical cicada (Magicicada septendecim) just after emergence from its nymphal skin. Snodgrass, R.E. The Periodical Cicada. Insects, their ways and means of living. Smithsonian Scientific Series, v.5 (1930). Art by R.E. Snodgrass. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Dr. Kritsky told me that he was drawn to the study of periodical cicadas early in his career:

It started the second week of my general entomology course at Indiana University. It was taught by Frank N. Young, Jr. who was the periodical cicada researcher in Indiana. As Frank started to describe these insects, I had the idea that mining the literature for historical records might prove fruitful in understanding the broods and their relationships to each other. So while in Grad School at Illinois, working under Lewis J. Stannard, Jr., the periodical cicada specialist in Illinois, I started searching. When I left in 1977, I had amassed nearly 7,000 historical records of cicadas! have been very gratified that so many of my colleagues and people around the country have embraced my app, CicadaSafari, to help map out this year’s emergence of Brood X. Here it is May 14, the cicadas have not started their major emergence in parts of their range and over 111,000 people are using the app and contributing 5,000+ -photos per day.

Additionally, for our BHL readers who already use iNaturalist for their observations, be sure to keep track of your Magicicada sightings there also.

Being based at the Smithsonian, I also checked in with Floyd Shockley, the collections manager for the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and asked what drew him to study the periodical cicada:

As Collections Manager, I am a broadly trained entomologist rather than a specialist on cicadas (my research focus is actually on beetles). However, I grew up on a small farm in rural Missouri and spent a lot of my childhood outside and exploring nature. I was a naturalist and a scientist even then. Cicadas were always a quintessential sign of summer back home, and given their size they were larger than most other insects so it was easy to find them and “study” them. We also have several broods of periodical cicadas that emerge in Missouri so I got to see them more than most. In fact, I’ve personally experienced 9 of the 15 extant broods of periodical cicadas during my life.

In Conclusion

The regular appearance of periodical cicadas over, for most species, what is a significant amount of time means that individual researchers will not have an opportunity to study them over multiple generations. The accumulation of observations and data over decades and even centuries makes the study of periodical cicadas possible.

The importance to researchers of repositories, such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library, that aggregate vast amounts of data gathered over long periods of time is inestimable. BHL allows researchers around the world to access literature that may be difficult or impossible to find locally or easily. Access, whether through metadata or full-text searching, uncover data that might otherwise be lost. As we saw with M. cassinii, it can also help with providing a richer story to the documenting of life on our planet.

A female periodical cicada (Magicicada septendecim) inserting eggs with her ovipositor into the under surface of an apple twig. Snodgrass, R.E. The Periodical Cicada. Insects, their ways and means of living. Smithsonian Scientific Series, v.5 (1930). Art by R.E. Snodgrass. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

References and Additional Suggested Readings

Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia). 1859. Elections in 1859. 1: 354. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1653313

Alexander, R.D., Moore, T.E. 1962. The evolutionary relationships of 17-year and 13-year cicadas, and three new species (Homoptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada). Misc. Publs Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. 121: 1-59. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/56365/MP121.pdf?sequence=4

Cassin, John. 1852. Note on the above species of Cicada, and on the Cicada septendecim, Linn. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 5: 273-275. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26301508

Davis, J.J. May 1953. Pehr Kalm’s Description of the Periodical Cicada, Magicicada septendecim L., from Kongl. Svenska Vetenskap Academiens Handlinger, 17:101-116, 1756, translated by Larson, Esther Louise (Mrs. K.E. Doak). The Ohio Journal of Science. 53: 139–140. https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/4028

Davis, W.T., 1925. Cicada tibicen, a South American species, with records and descriptions of North American cicadas. Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 33: 35-51. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50783180

Dybas, Henry. (1970). Population explosion — 17-year locust style. Bulletin (Field Museum of Natural History) 41.1: 11-13. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2890663

Fisher, J.C. 1852. On a new species of cicada. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 5: 272-273. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26301507

Hildreth, S.P. 1830. Notices and Observations on the American Cidada, or Locust. The American Journal of Science and Arts. 18: 47-50. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30953560

Kalm, Pehr. 1756. Beskrifning På et slags Grås-hoppor uti Norra America. Kungl. Svenska vetenskapsakademiens handlingar. 17:101-116. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46677076

Kritsky, Gene. 2001. Periodical Revolutions and the Early History of the “Locust” in American Cicada Terminology. American Entomologist, pp. 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/47.3.186

Kritsky, Gene. 2021. Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition. Ohio Biological Survey. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1246784386.

Linnaei, Caroli. 1758. Insecta. Hemiptera. Cicada. Mannifera. septendecim. Systema Naturae Per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. 1 (10 ed.). Stockholm, Sweden: Laurentii Salvii. pp. 436–437. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727347

McNeur, Catherine. May 9, 2021. The Woman Who Solved a Cicada Mystery—but Got No Recognition. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-woman-who-solved-a-cicada-mystery-but-got-no-recognition/

Marlatt, C.L. 1898. The periodical cicada: an account of Cicada septendecim, its natural enemies and the means of preventing its injury: together with a summary of the distribution of the different broods. Publication info: Washington, D.C. :U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Entomology,1898. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48892673

Morris, Margaretta Hare. 1846. Stated Meeting, Dec. 15, 1846. Mr. Vaux in the Chair. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 3: 131-34. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1659400

Morris, Margaretta Hare. 1851. On the Seventeen Year Locusts. Proc. Bos. Soc. Nat. Hist. 4: 110. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8870820

New York Entomological Society. 1947. Early Feminine Entomologists in America. Journal of the New York Entomological Society. LV: 280. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50768578

Oldenburgh, Henry. 1666. Some Observations of swarms of strange Insects, and the Mischiefs done by them. Philosoph. Trans. London, l(8): 137-38. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47594106

Snodgrass, R.E. 1930. The Periodical Cicada. Insects, their ways and means of living. (Smithsonian scientific series, v.5). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41170136

Recommended Sites

BugGuide. Genus Magicicada – Periodical Cicadas. https://bugguide.net/node/view/6970

Catalogue of Life. Magicicada. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/browse?taxonKey=5K4G

CicadaMania. A commercial site that has good information about cicadas in general as well as the 2021 Brood X appearance. https://www.cicadamania.com/

Cicada Safari. Companion site to the Cicada Safari app, there’s lots of good information here as well. https://cicadasafari.org/

General Periodical Cicada Information (University of Connecticut). https://cicadas.uconn.edu/

And Brood X map https://cicadas.uconn.edu/brood_10/

iNaturalist Periodic Cicadas. The website for the citizen science app for Magicicada. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/83854-Magicicada

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Good information from the Smithsonian on cicadas. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2021/04/15/what-expect-when-cicadas-emerge-spring/

Wikipedia. Magicicada | M. septendecim (Linnaeus, 1758), M. cassinii (Fisher, 1852), M. septendecula (Alexander & Moore, 1962)

Notes

Leer en español

A view of the Panamanian tropical rainforest in Colón Province. Photo by Samanta Orellana.

In the last decades of the 19th century, a monumental publication on the biodiversity of Mexico and Central America began publication—Biologia Centrali-Americana. Published in 215 parts from 1879 to 1915 by the editors Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin, the work describes over 50,000 species and is illustrated with over 1,600 lithographic plates depicting over 18,000 species. Remarkable for its time, the title is still vitally important for the study of Neotropical biodiversity today, as it contained virtually all known information at the time about Mexican and Central American flora and fauna.

Biologia Centrali-Americana is a particularly important resource for entomologist Samanta Orellana, a PhD student in evolutionary biology at the Dr. Nico Franz Lab of Arizona State University (ASU) and a research assistant in the ASU Biocollections of the Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center. Orellana began studying insects and working with entomological collections more than a decade ago, during her undergraduate studies in her home country of Guatemala.

“For many insect groups in Guatemala and the rest of Central America, Biologia Centrali-Americana still represents the only source of information available for the region,” states Orellana.

Samanta Orellana in the Arizona State University Biocollections. Photo by Kevin Cortés.

Biologia Centrali-Americana is also meaningful to Orellana because it led her to the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). In 2010, whilst identifying Guatemalan insects as part of her undergraduate studies, Orellana started using the “Electronic Biologia Centrali-Americana,” available from the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, which directed her to BHL. She hasn’t stopped using BHL since.

“BHL is simply wonderful,” lauds Orellana. “I think it is an amazing tool for entomologists all around the world, especially for those of us who work or have worked in collections in developing countries, usually without access to specialized libraries or journals, but with a lot of material to identify.”

One of the plates of Central American anthribids, included in the chapter written by Karl Jordan in the Biologia Centrali-Americana (Insecta. Coleoptera. v.4, pt.6, 1895-1907). Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Orellana specializes in the family Anthribidae (Coleoptera), commonly known as fungus weevils. Her research on these insects began during her studies at the Universidad de Panamá, where she completed an M.Sc. in entomology, and continues through her PhD work, with her dissertation focused on the family’s diversity and evolution. As part of this research, Orellana recently published a catalogue of the Anthribidae species from Panama.

BHL’s collections have been instrumental in enabling Orellana to pursue her work on the family.

“BHL was essential to complete my first published work on Anthribidae, a catalogue of the species from Panama,” shares Orellana. “This group of weevils has been poorly studied in the Neotropics, so identifying specimens is always challenging due to the lack of taxonomic keys. I had to rely mostly on original descriptions available through BHL to identify the specimens I examined, both in Panamanian and American collections. The catalogue ended up with 44 new records for the country, most of them identified thanks to the literature available in BHL.”

Eugonus robustus Jordan, 1904 (Coleoptera: Anthribidae), from Panama. Photo by Samanta Orellana.

BHL has now become a core part of Orellana’s research process. She uses the Library at least several times a week, reading content online or downloading material via BHL’s custom PDF generator to build her own local collection of Anthribidae literature. Her favorite feature is BHL’s full text search service, which allows her to easily find scientific names or specific localities within sources.

“I use BHL all the time,” affirms Orellana. “I continue using it for my PhD studies to identify collection specimens, as taxonomy is an important component of my research with this group of weevils. I also maintain a website in Spanish about insects of Guatemala and constantly consult BHL to obtain and share information about the diversity of this group in my country.”

When asked what improvements she would like to see in BHL, Orellana replies, “This is a difficult question, because I love BHL so much. There is nothing I can think of that I would change. I can always find what I am looking for with the features already included on the website.”

Orellana’s experience testifies to the importance of open access for scientific research, whether you are a researcher working with limited resources or even if you have the benefit of a large, institutional library. For researchers everywhere, BHL’s collections offer free, easy access to centuries of scientific literature and sources that may otherwise have been inaccessible.

“Even now that I am working at a larger collection, and I have access to specialized literature, there are older works that can only be obtained through BHL,” confirms Orellana.

We are proud to know that BHL is empowering biodiversity research globally. As we face unprecedented biodiversity declines—with more than a million species threatened with extinction—immediate, online access to essential literature is ever-more important, allowing scientists to conduct research more quickly and efficiently and improving our ability to respond to today’s biodiversity crisis. We look forward to continuing to work with our global community of partners to ensure that researchers like Samanta Orellana have the resources they need to study and conserve biodiversity, from the smallest weevil to the largest sequoia and everything in between.

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Biodiversidad Oculta: Explorando los Gorgojos Neotropicales con la ayuda de BHL

Una vista del bosque tropical de Panamá en la Provincia de Colón. Fotografía por Samanta Orellana.

En las últimas décadas del siglo XIX, una publicación monumental acerca de la biodiversidad de México y Centroamérica inició su difusión –la Biología Centrali-Americana. Publicada en 215 partes de 1879 a 1915, por los editores Frederick DuCane Godman y Osbert Salvin, el trabajo describe más de 50,000 especies y está ilustrada con más de 1,600 láminas litográficas que contienen más de 18,000 especies. Muy notoria en su tiempo, la obra aún es sumamente importante para el estudio de la biodiversidad neotropical en la actualidad, ya que contiene prácticamente toda la información conocida, hasta el momento, acerca de la flora y fauna de México y Centroamérica.

La Biologia Centrali-Americana es un recurso particularmente importante para la entomóloga Samanta Orellana, estudiante de Doctorado en Biología Evolutiva, en el laboratorio del Dr. Nico Franz, en Arizona State University (ASU) y asistente de investigación en las Colecciones Biológicas del Centro de Integración para el Conocimiento de la Biodiversidad en ASU. Orellana empezó a estudiar insectos y a trabajar en colecciones entomológicas hace más de una década, durante sus estudios de pregrado en su país natal, Guatemala.

“Para muchos grupos de insectos de Guatemala y el resto de Centroamérica, la Biología Centrali-Americana aún representa la única fuente de información disponible en la región”, asegura Orellana.

Samanta Orellana en las Colecciones Biológicas de Arizona State University. Fotografía por Kevin Cortés.

La Biologia Centrali-Americana también es importante para Orellana, ya que la llevó a descubrirBiodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), que en español podría denominarse como “Biblioteca del Patrimonio de Biodiversidad”. En 2010, mientras identificaba insectos de Guatemala, como parte de sus estudios de pregrado, Orellana empezó a utilizar la versión electrónica de la Biología Centrali-Americana,disponible en el sitio de las Bibliotecas y Archivos del Instituto Smithsonian, lo cual la dirigió hacia BHL, y no ha dejado de usarla desde entonces.

“BHL es simplemente maravillosa”, asegura Orellana. “Pienso que es una herramienta increíble para los entomólogos alrededor del mundo, especialmente para aquellos que trabajamos en colecciones de países en vías de desarrollo, usualmente sin acceso a bibliotecas o revistas especializadas, pero con mucho material por identificar”.

Una de las láminas de antríbidos de Centroamérica, incluidas en el capítulo escrito por Karl Jordan en la Biología Centrali-Americana (Insecta. Coleoptera. v.4, pt.6, 1895-1907). Compartido en BHL por las Bibliotecas y Archivos del Instituto Smithsonian.

Orellana se especializa en la familia Anthribidae (Coleoptera), comúnmente conocidos como “gorgojos de los hongos”. Sus investigaciones con estos insectos iniciaron durante sus estudios en la Universidad de Panamá, donde completó su maestría en entomología, y continúan durante su doctorado, con su tesis enfocada en la diversidad y evolución de la familia. Como parte de su investigación, Orellana recientemente publicó un catálogo de las especies de Anthribidae de Panamá.

Las colecciones de literatura de BHL han sido indispensables para permitir que Orellana trabaje con esta familia.

“BHL fue esencial para completar mi primer trabajo publicado acerca de Anthribidae, un catálogo de especies de Panamá”, comparte Orellana. “Este grupo de gorgojos ha sido pobremente estudiado en la región Neotropical, por lo que identificar las especies siempre es un reto debido a la falta de claves taxonómicas. Yo tuve que basarme mayormente en descripciones originales, disponibles en BHL, para identificar las especies que estudié, tanto en colecciones panameñas como norteamericanas. El catálogo finalizó 44 nuevos registros para el país, muchos de los cuales fue posible identificar gracias a la literatura disponible en BHL.”

Eugonus robustus Jordan, 1904 (Coleoptera: Anthribidae), de Panamá. Fotografía por Samanta Orellana.

BHL se ha vuelto una parte esencial en el proceso de investigación de Orellana, ya que utiliza este recurso al menos varias veces por semana, leyendo el contenido en línea o descargando material, por medio del generador de archivos PDF de BHL, para construir su propia colección de literatura de Anthribidae. Su característica favorita de BHL es el servicio de búsqueda de texto, que le permite encontrar nombres científicos y localidades de una manera fácil dentro de los archivos disponibles.

“Uso BHL todo el tiempo”, afirma Orellana. “Durante mis estudios de doctorado, uso BHL constantemente para identificar especímenes de colecciones, ya que la taxonomía es un componente importante de mi investigación con este grupo de gorgojos. Como una actividad adicional, administro un sitio web enfocado en insectos de Guatemala, y consulto BHL constantemente para obtener y compartir información acerca de la diversidad de este grupo en mi país.”

Al consultarle acerca de las mejoras que le gustaría ver en BHL, Orellana responde, “Esta es una pregunta difícil, porque BHL me gusta demasiado. No puedo pensar en nada que me gustaría cambiar. Siempre puedo encontrar lo que estoy buscando con las características ya incluidas en el sitio web”.

Las experiencias de Orellana son un testimonio de la importancia de libre acceso a las investigaciones científicas, así sea para científicos trabajando con recursos limitados, o para aquellos que cuentan con acceso a bibliotecas institucionales. Para investigadores de todas partes, la colección de BHL ofrece acceso gratuito y fácil, a siglos de literatura y recursos científicos que, de otra manera, serían inaccesibles.

“Aún ahora, que me encuentro trabajando en una colección grande y tengo acceso a literatura especializada, existen trabajos muy antiguos a los que puedo acceder únicamente a través de BHL,” confirma Orellana.

Estamos orgullosos de saber que BHL empodera la investigación de biodiversidad a nivel global. Mientras nos enfrentamos a la desaparición sin precedentes de la biodiversidad —con más de un millón de especies amenazadas con la extinción— el acceso inmediato a literatura en línea es más importante que nunca, permitiendo que los científicos conduzcan sus investigaciones de una manera más rápida y eficiente, mejorando la habilidad de responder a la crisis de biodiversidad actual. Esperamos continuar trabajando con nuestra comunidad de socios para asegurar que los investigadores como Samanta Orellana tengan a la mano los recursos que necesitan para estudiar y conservar la biodiversidad, desde el gorgojo más pequeño a la secoya más grande.

This post was originally published on 2 March 2021 on the Smithsonian Institution Archives blog.

Dr. Margaret S. Collins and Dr. Barbara L. Thorne standing next to a termite (Nasutitermes acajutlae) nest on Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands while studying a variety of termites in 1986. © Dr. Barbara L. Thorne.

Dr. Margaret S. Collins (1922-1996), a renowned expert on termite ecology and distribution, taught as a professor and administrator at Howard University, Florida A&M University, and Federal City College (now University of The District of Columbia) for over 35 years. Upon her retirement from teaching, Collins continued her work on termites at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History as a research associate from 1983 to 1996.

Over the course of her career, Collins published more than forty articles spanning the biogeography, physiology, chemical defenses, and taxonomy of termites. Collins also collected specimens in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Barbados, Belize, Suriname, the Cayman Islands, Guyana, Guatemala, and Panama. When she contracted dengue fever on an expedition in Guyana in 1983-1984 and was forced into a long hiatus from field work, she turned her focus to updating and preserving the termite specimens at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Eventually Collins returned to field research in 1994 when she once again traveled to Guyana to collect termites. In April 1996, Collins died while conducting field work in the Cayman Islands.

Collins’ biographers, such as Wini Warren and Vernard R. Lewis, have documented how she faced racism and sexism in her work and life. As one of the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. in entomology, she had to fight to find advisers as an undergraduate at West Virginia State College and to fund her field research during her early career. Additionally, Collins worked in the face of bomb threats and racist remarks as she pursued her career and advocated for equal rights during the civil rights movement.

In fact, Collins’ memorial service pamphlet begins with excerpts from a letter she wrote to the editor of the Tallahassee Democrat during the 1956 Tallahassee bus boycott. During the boycott, sometimes chased by police, Collins drove protestors to and from work. The excerpts included:

The Person who allows himself to be mistreated without protest shares equal responsibility with his abuser for the unjust act…

…We can do little for those of us who have been so conditioned that they back away when the opportunity to stand tall is offered—except be thankful that we are not all as they are. Those who back away need prayers, that they may never have to bear the burden of blocking the growth of other members of their group.

These passages were edited out of Collins’ letter by the newspaper and never printed, but their inclusion in her memorial service offers a sense of the importance Collins placed on standing tall against the challenges she faced in her own life.

The first page of Margaret S. Collins’ memorial service pamphlet. Courtesy of Dr. Barbara L. Thorne.

In the face of those challenges, Collins developed a love for field research. To learn more about Margaret Collins’ research, see a selection of her field notebooks, archived at the Smithsonian and digitized in the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. Headquartered at the Smithsonian, BHL works with libraries and archives around the world to revolutionize global research by providing free, worldwide access to knowledge about life on Earth.

Pages 6 and 7 from Margaret S. Collins’ Field Notes: “Combat Data,” Suriname, 1982: SIA Acc. 01-038. Contributed in BHL from Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Collins’ field notebooks were digitized and transcribed with the Smithsonian Transcription Center as part of the Smithsonian Field Book Project. Field notes can provide rich data for researchers to understand how biodiversity has changed over space and time. For example, field notebooks may describe habitats, meteorological events, and personal observations that allow us to reconstruct historical ecologies. The Archives has contributed over 300,000 pages of field notes to the Biodiversity Heritage Library as part of the Smithsonian Field Book Project. Some of Collins’ field books are part of that collection.

There are so many inspiring stories, like Dr. Collins’, about women in science at the Smithsonian in its 175-year history that can educate and embolden future generations, but only if their legacies are discoverable. On Thursday, 25 March 2021 from 1-3pm ET, join us for Wikipedia & Women in Science: Smithsonian Groundbreakers Edit-a-thon, an online Wikipedia editing workshop hosted in conjunction with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative and the Smithsonian Institution Archives, part of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

During this training, attendees of all experience levels will learn the basics of how to edit Wikipedia by updating articles related to the history of women in science at the Smithsonian Institution in connection with the Funk List. Presenters will share how editors might research the work of these women in the absence of personal papers and institutional records. Learn more and register.

The Island of Newfoundland was nicknamed “The Rock” because of its rocky terrain and high cliffs.

I’m Elizabeth Smith, and I work at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Library & Archives as Acquisitions and Cataloguing Officer. In this capacity, I have the privilege of caring for a rare book collection consisting of approximately 4,000 pre-20^th century monographs, manuscripts and periodicals, including a special unpublished manuscript, Entomologia Terrae Novae by Philip Henry Gosse — which I had the privilege of hand couriering to St John’s Newfoundland for a short exhibit and panel talk at Memorial University’s QEII Library this past September.

Elizabeth Smith is an acquisitions and cataloguing officer with the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Here she holds Philip Henry Gosse’s unpublished manuscript, Entomologia Terrae Novae. (Francesa Swan/CBC). Source.

This special manuscript has been digitized by the Museum’s Library & Archives on BHL.

On arrival in St John’s, I was greeted by the managing editor for Boulder Books and whisked over to the CBC Radio station to do an interview for On-The Go with Ted Blades. Months prior, Boulder reached out to our library to inquire about borrowing the manuscript to be shown in tandem with the launch of their newest field guide, Stouts, Millers & Forky-Tails: Insects of Newfoundland & Labrador, which drew inspiration from Gosse’s work. I was ultimately invited to speak alongside Dr. Tom Chapman, head of the Department of Biology at Memorial University and co-author of that field guide, at an engagement and advocacy event held by Memorial’s QEII Library in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies (CNS). The event was fittingly called A Bug’s Life: Tales of the N.L. Insect (1833-2019).

Philip Henry Gosse, 1863. Source: Canadian Museum of Nature Blog.

Entomologia Terrae Novae, authored by Philip Henry Gosse in 1833, was the first attempt to classify and illustrate the insect fauna of Newfoundland. About 250 magnificent illustrations adorn its pages — many of which are of the Lycaenidae family, which is the second-largest family of butterflies.

(Below) The common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) of the Lycaenidae family along with (above) the black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). Gosse, Philip Henry. Entomologia terrae novae. 1833. Contributed in BHL from the Canadian Museum of Nature Library / Bibliothèque du Musée canadien de la nature.

I pondered with my entomologist colleague, Dr. Bob Anderson, as to why that might be. Perhaps it was the metamorphosis process that fascinated Gosse? We reflected on the fact that much of the world’s life forms were only starting to be explored, and that exploration and illustration was a hobby in this (almost) Victorian Era. Dr. Anderson also taught me of the value in capturing the host plants in scientific illustrations, as it can inform research scientists of various things. There are several examples of this throughout the book.

Gosse captured the metamorphosis process and host plants in his drawings. Gosse, Philip Henry. Entomologia terrae novae. 1833. Contributed in BHL from the Canadian Museum of Nature Library / Bibliothèque du Musée canadien de la nature.

Philip Henry Gosse was the son of Thomas Gosse and Hannah (née Best). He was sent from England to Carbonear at age 17 to work as a clerk. Gosse’s father, Thomas, was a miniature portrait artist himself, but it was Gosse’s aunt (Susan Bell) who first taught him to draw. He did so exquisitely, sometimes with the help of a microscope. Throughout the manuscript, readers can see examples of insects which Gosse carefully represented in their actual size and enlarged to a magnified proportion to show more detail.

Example from Gosse’s manuscript of an insect drawn to scale and magnified. Gosse, Philip Henry. Entomologia terrae novae. 1833. Contributed in BHL from the Canadian Museum of Nature Library / Bibliothèque du Musée canadien de la nature.

Meticulously hand drawn insects like these are nothing short of impressive. If you take a closer look, you will also notice annotations and even … a dolphin sketch! Gosse went on to illustrate other forms of life, some for which he was more famous (for example, he’s known for inaugurating the word “aquarium” and making these glass enclosures popular with the publication of his 1854 monograph dedicated to the subject).

Dolphins, an unexpected inclusion in Gosse’s manuscript. Gosse, Philip Henry. Entomologia terrae novae. 1833. Contributed in BHL from the Canadian Museum of Nature Library / Bibliothèque du Musée canadien de la nature.

Gosse moved on from Newfoundland to Quebec and other locations, taking the manuscript with him and eventually passing it along to his son, Edmund Gosse. It was passed down through the Gosse family until it was donated to the Canadian Museum of Nature in the 1950s.

This singular manuscript holds many treasures and a few surprises. We were excited to bring this work back to Newfoundland for the first time since its creation in the 1830s to be showcased as part of this special event with the Memorial University’s QEII Library. While it is a phenomenal experience to view the manuscript in person and appreciate the almost 3D quality of the drawings, the digitized copy in the Biodiversity Heritage Library ensures that everyone can enjoy this unique item and the important milestone it represents for the history of entomological studies in Newfoundland.

Dragonflies of Newfoundland. Gosse, Philip Henry. Entomologia terrae novae. 1833. Contributed in BHL from the Canadian Museum of Nature Library / Bibliothèque du Musée canadien de la nature.