Happy New Year!
Hi folks,
Things have been a little quiet at my end on account of being on holidays. I hope you all had an excellent holiday period.
December was another strong month for cicada observations with 159 sightings recorded! It seems that Black Princes and Floury Bakers have been especially prominent in the last few weeks. Congrats to jhannan for passing 50 observations, and christie22 for surpassing the century mark!!
Interestingly, no Cherrynoses or Double Drummer cicadas have been heard or recorded (that I know of) around Sydney, the Blue Mtns, and central coast. If this wet weather front Sydney is currently having doesn't bring any out then it may be a missed year for these species.
I have been inspired by the show of support and interest in everything cicadas that I have plans to produce a photo ID book for the common cicada species in NSW. At this stage, I will be aiming to have a first edition completed by the start of the next season. The limiting step is having live specimens to photograph, and I am still missing a few common species (Cherrynose and Double Drummer included!). If you happen to find a specimen of these or the following species, then please let me know as it may be possible to try to arrange to get the specimen to me:
- Zipping Ambertail
- Floury Baker
- Redeye
- Yellow Monday/Masked Devil
- Black Prince (male)
- Double Spotted (male)
Alternatively, if you prefer, feel free to photograph the specimen yourself. Please see example photos of cicadas on my Facebook photography page to see the style of photo I have been producing:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.567414240039719.1073741839.527071164074027&type=3
Lets keep up the great work into January and February!
