Nix McRetro
Over the course of the Australian 2022-2023 summer I did a little collecting. At the end of cicada season, March 2023, I went and grabbed as many shells (exuviae) as I could find from a few different areas.
Most of the shells were like this little one’s: a Floury Baker (Aleeta curvicosta), named for the white markings. This particular cicada emerged during the day, which surprised me: published observations describe the usual emergence at dusk or at night. More on her another time.
Finding an emerging cicada gives you a great opportunity to observe the beginning of its final stage of life and match the adult to its own shell. It’s also one of the cicada’s most vulnerable periods, so it’s a moment to watch without disturbing it.
The shell third from the left is the one I identified as a Floury Baker. The rest are guesses based on the species I was able to identify during summer. From left to right, my identifications are Silver Princess (Yoyetta celis), Brown Bunyip (Tamasa tristigma), Floury Baker (Aleeta curvicosta), and either Black Prince (Psaltoda plaga) or Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae). Those first, second and fourth identifications are tentative.
Over the entire summer I was able to hear Green Grocers but never came across one, which was a disappointment as they were the first cicadas I came across as a child. I was able to find a few Black Princes though. I was surprised at how much chunkier they were than the Floury Bakers.
A new one for me was the Brown Bunyip. I found a deceased one that looked to have either been pecked at or stepped on, and a couple of live ones out of reach but within sound range. Their call is not very pleasant, especially in chorus. They also have quite a bit of variation in their colours, not unlike the Green Grocer, which is sometimes not green at all.
Writing this in August 2023, I’m expecting the next local cicada season to start up in September, with Silver Princess cicadas appearing first and the larger species following. I look forward to their return! 🥰