Cicada Memorial Traditional Geocache

Cache is a small camouflaged twist-top container. It should be an easy find. There is a shortcut off Ellington Drive to this section of the trail.

This cache is named for the evidence of cicada emergence at the time of placement in the form of discarded cicada shells. This brood of cicadas won't be seen again for 13 years.

Brood XIX 1998 - 2011 RIP

From Magicicada Central

Brood XIX is arguably the largest (by geographic extent) of all periodical cicada broods, with records along the east coast from Maryland to Georgia and in the Midwest from Iowa to Oklahoma. 2011 will also be the first emergence of Brood XIX since the 1998 discovery of the species Magicicada neotredecim.

Another interesting feature of Brood XIX is a striking pattern of reproductive character displacement (RCD). Where Magicicada neotredecim is in contact with another 13-year species, M. tredecim, the dominant male call pitch of M. neotredecim is approximately 1.7 kHz, while outside the contact zone, its call pitch is approximately 1.4 kHz, identical to that of its putative ancestor, M. septendecim (Marshall and Cooley 2000).

If you should see signs of cicada emergence in other areas, report them here.