Bug FAQRiley's 13-Year Cicada
Magicicada tredecim · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Cicadidae
Also called: Decim 13-Year Cicada, Decim Periodical Cicada, Southern Pharaoh Periodical Cicada
Riley's 13-Year Cicada has reddish eyes, wing veins, a black dorsal thorax, and a light orange underside to the abdomen. It lives in the southeastern United States and follows a roughly 13-year life cycle that can vary from 9 to 17 years.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The back (dorsal thorax) is black. The belly (underside of the abdomen) is light orange or caramel and lacks the dark bands seen in some other Magicicada species.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Like its relatives, it has reddish eyes and wing veins.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It occurs across the southeastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
From egg to natural adult death the median cycle is about thirteen years. The cycle can range from nine to seventeen years.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is the southeastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is closely related to the newly described 13-year species Magicicada neotredecim and differs in male and female song pitch, abdomen color, and mitochondrial DNA.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 17 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Arkansas, Illinois.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: endemic in United States; native in North America. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell Riley's 13-Year Cicada apart from similar cicadas?
Look for a black dorsal thorax and a light orange underside of the abdomen, which lack the dark bands of related species.
Source: Wikipedia
When do these cicadas appear?
They emerge roughly every thirteen years, though the cycle can vary from nine to seventeen years.
Source: Wikipedia
What distinguishes them from Magicicada neotredecim?
They differ in male and female song pitch, abdomen coloration, and mitochondrial DNA.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Cicadidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicicada_tredecim
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.