Creatures in my Backyard | Tibicen Cicada

My last foray into this feature taught me a couple things. One is that my cell phone takes horrible pictures. The other is that it was less interesting to me to post photos on my blog of creatures that I knew nothing about.

Perhaps when I get up to a thousand viewers or so, I can post the mystery beasties. Until then, I suppose I'll do my research.

This big fella spent its final days on the screen door to the "mudroom" (an architectural feature of southern homes, apparently) . After which it fell off and fed a colony of ants.

A little google research led me to identify it as a Cicada from the Tibicen genus. The website bugguide.net had a bunch of (significantly better) photos - this one by Larry Clarfeld most closely resembles the one I found.

Image: Tibicen Cicada by Larry Clarfeld
BugGuide.Net

Early in their season, I made the mistake of tapping one of these buggers with the end of a broomstick - I thought it was a dung beetle - and lemme tell ya, this cicada screamed like a scarab out of a mummy horror movie. Incredible, really. According to this wikipedia article, "Some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB (SPL) "at close range", among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds."


Some more information from Wikipedia...

The Tibicen genus of cicadas are large-bodied Cicadidae appearing in late summer or autumn. Like other members of the subfamily Cicadinae, they have loud, complex songs, even (in many cases) distinct song phrases. Tibicen are the most common cicada in the United States. Unlike periodical cicadas, whose swarms occur at 13- or 17-year intervals, Tibicen species can be seen every year, hence their nickname "annual cicadas." The lifecycle of an individual, however, is more than a year. Nymphs spend two or three years feeding on tree roots before they emerge. Their annual reappearance is due to overlapping generations. Many other colloquial names exist for Tibicens: locust, dog day cicada, harvest fly, August dry bird, jar fly, bush cicada.

The article goes on to state that the cicada is edible by more than ants,  "Cicadas have been eaten in China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America, the Congo and in the United States. In North China, cicadas are skewered, deep fried or stir fried as a delicacy."

I guess I missed out on a good snack.

The short life span of the cicada, its distinctive mating song, and its transformative process all have provided plenty of material for folklores of different cultures, which I won't cite here - my challenge will be to come up with something original in my own writing.

However, something that I will use is the cicada as medicine. Some quick research gave me this information...

The pharmaceutical name of the substance made from this insect is Periostracum Cicadae or chan tui. [...]

Cicada's healing effects are due to its antispasmodic (reducing spasms), antipyretic (fever-reducing), and sedative (sleep-inducing) effects.

Cicada can prevent or reduce muscle spasms by reducing the tension of the striated muscles. It may also delay transmission of nerve signals at the neuromuscular junction, thereby reducing muscle spasms. Its activity may be similar to that of barbiturates, well-known sedatives, and anti-seizure medications. As an antispasmodic drug, it may be effective as supportive treatment for febrile seizures.

You can read the rest of the article here - some pretty interesting stuff.

And that's all I have for today - I could go on about bugs and medicine and so forth, and maybe I will, but for now, we'll keep it nice and simple.

Creatures in my Backyard | Smiley Face Moth?

Most of what I write in fantasy, takes place out of doors... primitive, undeveloped areas, with rough structures or things carved from rock. The bitter irony is that, for all intents and purposes, I am a city-slicker. I live now in the smallest town I've ever lived in, in a terrain that (five years later) remains mostly strange to me.

I have done research, have watched an unmentionable amount of NatGeo, Discovery, NOVA, etc. However, when it comes to the outdoors, I remain a city boy.

I'm working on it. I took this picture with my phone a week or two ago, been meaning to figure out what it is.

Smiley Face Moth(?) says, "Have a nice day!"

For starters, I have only cropped the photo to show its relative size against the bricks on the home exterior. Colors are unadjusted.

Death's Head Hawkmoth
Image: Wikipedia

If you look on its back, between the wings, behind its head, there looks to be a big ole smiley face. Now, I've heard of Death's head (hawk)moths, but this doesn't appear to be that.

Until I figure out what it is, I'm a gonna call it the smiley face moth.

Is this the most exciting thing I've found in my backyard? No, but it's the only one I managed to get a halfway decent photo of.

Anyone know what this is? Educate a city boy!

Spoilers don't spoil, according to study.

One of the reasons I haven't written anything here about A Dance with Dragons is because I am not sure that I could without spoiling it. But, according to Reuters, I might be doing you a favor.

This article on Yahoo news states, "A new study by researchers from the University of California at San Diego shows spoilers may enhance enjoyment, even for suspense-driven story lines and film plots."

Ha, really?

Now personally, I might agree. Depending on the spoiler. As oft as not, I'm reading for the enjoyment of doing so, for the author's prose and for the way they flow the plot. For interesting characters and clever dialogue.

So, no, a spoiler doesn't ruin it for me. Although, if we're going to talk about GRRM, I'd prefer not to know who is going to die. Or, as in ADWD, appear to die. But even if I know that, I'm still going to read the book and most likely enjoy it with/without advanced knowledge.

The article agrees with me, in that. "The researchers said in the study, which will be published in the journal Psychological Science, they found that the success of entertainment does not rest on suspense alone."

Aside, and related, exciting new standards for psychological testing.

"For the study each story was read by up to 30 people and presented in two formats -- in the original version and with a spoiling paragraph inserted in the story." (Emphasis mine.)

Wow, really? Thirty people is enough of a control group to post results in a psychology journal? Bull - if I had tried to pull that sort of nonsense while I was at school, I would have been the class clown.

It's an interesting discussion all the same. What do you think of spoilers?

Source: Yahoo News

Little update.

Good morning. Got moved. Partially.

Partially, as in, most of my things, including my DESK, remain in storage, along with most my former roommates' things.

So while I have my computer set up (clearly), sitting on the floor is not conducive for clear expression. ;-)

I know that last time I moved my (other) blog went south. Won't be happening with this one. Might be a few days, might be another week or so until I meet with my friends and get the items from storage.

Until the next.

Positive reviews for A Dance with Dragons so far..

Amidst the chaos that is my domestic life these days, I received the confirmation email from Amazon that A Dance with Dragons shipped this week. After what, six years, the long-awaited sequel will be in my grubby hands hopefully by this weekend!

About the time I will be moving. Again. Ha.

I don't know if there's anyone who is this far into the series who actually will NOT order the book at one point or another, but it's nice to know that the reviews have been fairly positive.

Especially when contrasted with A Feast For Crows. I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed with the first read of AFfC, for reasons cited frequently. Brienne's and Samwell's arcs read like a travelogue, Cersei was not a sympathetic character, Sansa was a passive character, and overall the events and characters portrayed were not the ones that were the most compelling and interesting in the story frame.

The second read of AFfC changed that for me, as I grew an appreciation for what Brienne and Sansa and Sam were observing - especially after reading The Hedge Knight last month. Arya/Sandor and Brienne/Pod are reminiscent of Dunk/Egg in some aspects. Fitting, considering Samwell's arc and the demise of Aemon Targaryen.

If you want to read the reviews before you get the book, or if you're like me, and want to read the reviews just out of morbid curiosity, here's some good starting points.

A Dribble of Ink, unsurprisingly, has beat me to the punch with this idea. As well he should. He had a few I was unaware of, which I'll mix in here.

Jo Walton, on the Tor.com blog.

Jace Lacob, at The Daily Beast.

This is, one could argue, a tale of hubris, heartbreak and horror, a world out of balance where death itself is not an ending, and which threatens to swallow up those more fixated on the game of thrones than the true battle for the survival of man.

Lev Grossman, for Time Magazine.

The complexity of Martin's design ensures that we experience the struggle for Westeros from all sides at once. It's as if he's trying to show us that every fight is both triumph and tragedy, depending on where you see it from, and everybody is both hero and villain at the same time.

Remy Verhoeve, for The Wall Street Journal.

Publishers Weekly, as I recall, broke the first review several weeks ago. This one has been called a little spoiler-y, though it didn't offend me much.

Pat's Fantasy List has his review here, as well as the story behind how he inspired a character in the novel who meets a grisly death. (9/10)

The Wertzone has a review here. Adam is probably one of the most knowledgeable sources of Westeros material that I have stumbled across on the internet. (4.5 stars)

Charlie Jane Anders did a review over at IO9.

All in all, A Dance with Dragons is moving, thrilling, horrifying and thought-provoking — and a propulsive continuation to a series that might have seemed like it was losing forward momentum. By the time you put this book down, you're left with no doubt that this story is racing towards a definitive ending, with only two books (or a mere 2,000 pages!) left to go. Some things happen in this latest book that you've probably been waiting for since Book One, and some huge mysteries are resolved.

Chris Y, SF/F buyer for Borders, on their blog (spoiler free).

I loved the pacing of this book. There is a slow buildup to an explosive finish. The last 100 pages are absolutely intense, and there are some game-changing events near the end of the book.

Rachel Brown gives a brief review, followed up by a GRRM interview for The Atlantic.

Jeff Vandermeer gave a heads-up for his LA Times review last week on his facebook page.

James Poniewozik, who covered the HBO series, did a second review for Time Magazine.

Chris Barsanti, for Barnes and Noble.

Steve Bennett, for My San Antonio. (Mild spoilers.)

Bill Sheehan, for The Washington Post.

Filled with vividly rendered set pieces, unexpected turnings, assorted cliffhangers and moments of appalling cruelty, “A Dance With Dragons” is epic fantasy as it should be written: passionate, compelling, convincingly detailed and thoroughly imagined.

That seems like enough, hmm?

Overall, the reviews seem to be positive, with some complaints about the story overlap (which was to be expected), resolved/unresolved puzzles (there's two more books - from an author's perspective, the puzzles should get answered when they become most relevant), and some cliffhangers. What, suddenly GRRM is going to NOT leave us with cliffhangers? I thought everyone was watching HBO...

Less frequently, comments on rambling and/or need for editing. But, truly, anyone who has read the first four volumes comes to expect a certain amount of Martin's stylistic immersion. Clothes, heraldry, feasts - none of those are things that necessarily forward the plot, but it allows the reader to experience the protagonists' stories. (Notably, this was a question in The Atlantic interview.)

Will I do a review? No, I don't do reviews anymore, per se. I'll share some thoughts when I finish. While Martin is an excellent storyteller and I'm as thrilled as other fans by the book's release, his is also a style that allows immersion, escape and above all else, complexity.


Reading GRRM is a strong lesson in how to combine lush prose with intelligent, adult fantasy fiction. For that reason alone, he will always be a must-read for me.