Here in south Oak Park, Illinois, we just heard our first Annual Cicada, a Tibicen pruinosa, singing about 45 minutes before sunset. (Sorry, cicada species don’t have common names.) Go here to see and hear examples of this species:
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/michigan_cicadas/Michigan/Index.html#Tibicen_pruinosa
Last year we heard our first Tibicen pruinosa on June 27, although for several years before that we did not hear them until early July. Here is a page with some of our records for first and last dates for Annual Cicadas: http://saltthesandbox.org/cicada_hunt/DatesFound.htm
The Periodical Cicadas are still barely hanging on around here. We are finding lots of wings and partly eaten bodies, but seeing and hearing very few live ones. Actually, we have been feeling seriously deprived of Periodical Cicadas in our neighborhood. We have to drive a few miles west, to the forests of the Des Plaines River floodplain, to see them in large numbers. At least we seem to be a bit ahead of the game with the Annual Cicadas!
We have been falling way behind on cicada blogging, partly because Dad has lots of deadlines at work, and partly because the kids are much more interested in birds than cicadas this year. Eventually we’ll catch up, though–we do have a few stories to tell.