Periodical Cicada Exuviae

I probably should have posted this with my spring/summer Periodical Cicada posts; this is the exuviae (pronounced sorta like ig-ZOO-vee-EE) of one of our Periodical Cicadas. In some areas these things were all over the place this year. This is the remains of the exoskeleton of a cicada nymph; the nymph stage is the one just prior to them becoming flying, screaming adults we all know and love.

I specifically picked this picture because its unambiguously the exuviae rather than a nymph that's on the verge of shedding its exuviea, a process called ecdysis (pronounced EK-duh-sis by some, though ek-DEE-sis seems to be out there too). You can partially see through it in places, guaranteeing that there's no nymph in there.

Although they emerge at somewhat different times of the year, I usually distinguish the Periodical Cicadas from the Annual Cicadas by color, especially the red eyes of the former versus the green eyes of the latter. Timing-wise, this was almost certainly a Periodical Cicada, though I suspect the Annual Cicadas look pretty darned similar.

June 17, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve


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