The Fourth of July has come and gone, and in most places, the Brood X emergence is drawing to a close and the carcasses of Magicicada dot the landscape like so many discarded red Solo cups. I heard one last, lonely male calling at Sharon Woods on July 2, but it's been eerily quiet around the house.

If, like me, you're experiencing a bit of cicada withdrawal, it might help to focus on those signs of hope for the next emergence: lots of posts of flagging are beginning to appear, and you can observe the characteristic slits left in twigs by ovipositing cicadas. You can also dissect flagged twigs for an observation of eggs; eggs in broken-off or dried-out twigs are already doomed, so this will not affect the next generation, and it's really interesting to see how neatly the rows of eggs are deposited within the incisions (see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/84594745).

The nymphs will begin to hatch within six to ten weeks of egg-laying, so that's something to watch for, too. I have yet to see a live hatchling, but other cicada enthusiasts have had luck with keeping cuttings of live, egg-bearing twigs in a vase of water on a black cloth; that way, the white nymphs show up when they hatch and fall to the dark surface.

Also, let's take a moment to appreciate the awesome power of citizen science in general and iNaturalist in particular. For all the years preceding this one, 2,836 observations of Magicicada had been reported on iNat. This year alone, staggeringly, 19,616 observations were added! Obviously, some of this has to do with improvements in technology and the increasing availability of smartphones and their cameras, but it also reflects a growing interest in natural history and enthusiasm for learning about the world around us.

The number of observations added to this project continues to grow as more observations are reviewed. You can help with this process by adding annotations to your observations of adult cicadas and their calls; all research-grade observations of Magicicada with the annotation "Adult" will automatically appear in the project.