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October 23, 2018

Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan, 1805)

Filed under: Australia | Cyclochila | Cyclochilini | Edward Donovan | Genera Insectorum | W. L. Distant — Tags: — Dan @ 1:01 am

Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan, 1805) is found in Australia and is remarkable for its variety of color morph, including green (Green Grocers), yellow (Yellow Mondays), blue (Blue Moons), and orange (Masked Devils).

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cyclochilini
Genus: Cyclochila
Species: Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan, 1805)

A Green Grocer:
C. australasiae (Donovan, 1805)

Cyclochila australasiae
Green Grocer Photo by Kevin Lee.

A Green Grocer Specimen:
Green Grocer specimen

Cyclochila australasiae, Blue Moon, by David Emery
Rare Blue Moon variety. Photo by David Emery.

Cyclochila genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Head about long as breadth between eyes, including eyes distinctly narrower than pronotum but almost as wide as its anterior margin, ocelli close together near middle of vertex, very much more remote from eyes than from each other; face longer than broad, moderately globose; pronotum about as long as mesonotum including the cruciform elevation, its lateral. margins moderately convexly ampliated ; abdomen about as long as space between apex of head and base of cruciform elevation, beneath moderately convex ; opercula short, not passing base of abdomen ; tegmina about or nearly three times longer than broad, basal cell scarcely longer than broad, apical areas eight; wings more than half the length of tegmina, apical areas six.

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

October 13, 2018

Arunta perulata (Guérin-Méneville, 1831)

Filed under: Arunta | Australia | Genera Insectorum | Guerin-Meneville | Thophini | W. L. Distant — Tags: — Dan @ 1:01 am

Arunta perulata (Guérin-Méneville, 1831). Found in Australia. Known as a White Drummer. Like other members of the tribe Thophini, like Thopha colorata (Orange Drummer) and Thopha saccata (Double Drummer), they have massive sac-like tymbal covers, which is why they’re called drummers.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Thophini
Genus: Arunta
Species: Arunta perulata (Guérin-Méneville, 1831)

White Drummer cicada (Arunta perulata)

Photo by David Emery.

Arunta perulata (Guérin-Méneville, 1831)

Arunta genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Head transverse, moderately truncate in front of eyes, between eyes much narrower than base of mesonotum ; rostrum reaching the posterior coxae; pronotum moderate broad, its breadth considerably less than length of both pro- and mesonotum (including the basal cruciform elevation); tympana very largely developed and sac-like, their apices obliquely extending beyond the lateral margins of the abdomen and to about half its length; opercula very small, not extending to base of metasternum, placed wide apart, and with their apical margins convex; anterior femora incrassated and spined ; posterior tibiae with a few lateral fine spines; tegmina and wings talc-like, tegmina with eight apical areas.

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

September 7, 2018

Cicada Fun with Google Trends

Filed under: Australia | Brood X | Life Cycle | Periodical — Dan @ 9:22 pm

Note: I originally took this article down because embedding Google Trends slowed down the loading of the page. I’m republishing without the embeds.

This article was inspired by Serious Fun with Google Trends by Simon Leather.

Google Trends is a Google website that lets you see trends in the search terms over time. When people search for “cicada” it usually means cicadas have emerged in their area at the time they search.

The following graph shows when people searched for “cicada” over the past 10 years in the United States. The largest spike, in May of 2004, coincided with the emergence of Brood X. See it on Google Trends.

Google Trends 2004-2015

You might think that periodical cicada emergences cause the largest spikes, but not always — and not just because periodical cicadas don’t emerge every year.

2004: Cicada searches spiked May 16-22, which was Brood X — Magicicadas.
2005: Jul 31-Aug 6 spike which was for Neotibicen Cicadas. No periodical cicadas.
2006: Aug 13-19, Neotibicen Cicadas. No periodical cicadas.
2007: May 20-26, Brood XIII — Magicicadas.
2008: Brood XIV Magicicadas emerged (spike Jun 8-14), but the largest spike was Jul 29-Aug 2, Neotibicen Cicadas.
2009: Aug 16-22, Neotibicen Cicadas.
2010: Aug 8-14, Neotibicen Cicadas.
2011: May 29-Jun 4, Brood XIX — Magicicadas.
2012: Jul 29-Aug 4, Neotibicen Cicadas.
2013: May 5-11, Brood II — Magicicadas.
2014: Brood XXII — Magicicadas had a relatively small spike May 25-31, compared with Aug 24-30 for Neotibicen Cicadas (late season due to cool weather). There was also a teeny bit of a spike around January of 2014 due to the “cicada 3301” meme/game.
2015: Brood XXIII & IV Magicicadas emerged (spike around Jun 7-13), but the largest spike was around Aug 9-15 for Neotibicen Cicadas.

Which cities had the most cicada searches over the past 14 years? Nashville, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Arlington, Washington, Alexandria, Pittsburg, St. Louis, Columbus, and Chicago. Time to move to Nashville.

Australia

In Australia, searches for “cicadas” peaks in December (summertime in Australia). It looks like there is a year-over-year pattern arising as well, with peaks every 4 years (2009, 2013, 2017) particularly, if you drill down to New South Wales.

Australia Google Trends

Japan

In Japan, searches for “セミ” peaks in August.

Google Trends Japan

Other countries

  • Argentina peaks in March for cigarra.
  • Brazil peaks in October and April for cigarra.
  • France peaks in July for cigales.
  • Mexico peaks in May or June for chicharra, but October for cigarra.
  • New Zealand peaks in February for cicadas.
  • South Korea peaks in July for 매미.
  • Spain peaks in July for cigarra.

Now I know when to visit these countries. 🙂

Try it yourself.

October 27, 2017

14 new species of grassland, woodland & scrubland Myopsalta cicadas

Filed under: Australia | L. W. Popple | Myopsalta — Dan @ 11:29 pm

Lindsay Popple published a new paper describing 14 new species of grassland, woodland & scrubland Myopsalta cicadas. Download it from Zootaxa.

Here are the particulars:

Volume: Zootaxa 4340 (1): 001—098; 2017.
Title: A revision of the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species group (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettini) with 14 new species from mainland Australia
Author: LINDSAY W. POPPLE

Abstract:

The genus Myopsalta Moulds is distributed throughout much of Australia. Previous studies have associated several undescribed species with the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species complex. The present study informally divides the cicadas in the genus Myopsalta into two species groups. It provides a revision of the M. crucifera species group, which includes redescriptions of M. crucifera s. str. and M. mackinlayi (Distant). The identity of the latter species is further refined and attributed to material formerly presented under the name Myopsalta atrata (Goding & Froggatt). In addition to the redescriptions, 14 new species belonging to the M. crucifera species group are described, including M. albiventris n. sp., M. bassiana n. sp., M. chrysopedia n. sp., M. gordoni n. sp., M. leona n. sp., M. longicauda n. sp., M. majurae n. sp., M. melanobasis n. sp., M. parvula n. sp., M. platyptera n. sp., M. riverina n. sp., M. septa n. sp., M. umbra n. sp. and M. xerograsidia n. sp. A key to species in the genus Myopsalta is provided. Standard morphological descriptions and descriptions of calling songs unique to each species are included along with a discussion on different song types in the M. crucifera species group.

And the announcement from Twitter:

Visit Lindsay’s cicada website.

September 17, 2017

New species of Clinopsalta cicadas

Filed under: Australia | Cicadettini | Clinopsalta | L. W. Popple | Papers and Documents — Dan @ 9:36 pm

Lindsay Popple announced on Twitter that two new species of Clinopsalta cicadas have been described.

Links:

Sounds: Calling songs of Clinopsalta cicadas.

Journal Article: TWO NEW SPECIES OF CLINOPSALTA MOULDS (HEMIPTERA: CICADIDAE) AND ADDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION RECORDS FOR CLINOPSALTA ADELAIDA (ASHTON), WITH NOTES ON THEIR DISTINCTIVE CALLING SONGS. Popple and Emery, 2017. Rec. Aust. Mus. 69(4): 237—256

Abstract from the journal article:

Two new species are described in the genus Clinopsalta Moulds. Clinopsalta autumna sp. nov. exhibits a warm temperate distribution from south-east Queensland south to Goulburn and Nerriga in eastern New South Wales. Clinopsalta semilunata sp. nov. has a patchy distribution in southern Queensland from Binjour Plateau west to near Miles, south to Yelarbon State Forest and Durikai State Forest, both near Inglewood. In addition to the descriptions of these new species, further distribution records are provided for C. adelaida (Ashton), which extend its distribution from south-eastern South Australia and northern Victoria to inland central and northern New South Wales. The species of Clinopsalta are small—medium sized cicadas (< 20 mm body length) with distinctive calling songs of an intermediate frequency (c. 6 to 18 kHz). The temporal structures of the calling songs follow a similar pattern in each species, comprising an introductory rattle followed by a series of clicking phrases. The call is characteristically accompanied with bouts of prominent wing-snapping, except in one species (C. semilunata sp. nov.).

November 10, 2016

Twenty-two new species of cicada identified in Australia

Filed under: Australia | Max Moulds — Dan @ 6:28 am

A new paper was published that describes five (5) new cicada genera and twenty-two (22) species of cicadas in Australia.

The paper is Systematics and Phylogeny of the Australian Cicada Genus Pauropsalta Goding and Froggatt, 1904 and Allied Genera (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettini), the authors are Christopher L. Owen and M. S. Moulds, and it was published by The Australian Museum.

You can download it from this page. The document is 83 pages long, and contains 6 color pages of the cicadas.

The new genera are:

  1. Atrapsalta n.gen. Includes 9 species.
  2. Haemopsalta n.gen. Includes 4 species.
  3. Falcatpsalta n.gen. Includes 1 species.
  4. Relictapsalta n.gen. Includes 1 species.
  5. Popplepsalta n.gen. Includes 12 species. Note that this genera is named for cicada researcher Lindsay Popple.

The new species are:

  1. Pauropsalta accola n.sp.
  2. Pauropsalta adelphe n.sp.
  3. Pauropsalta agasta n.sp.
  4. Pauropsalta confinis n. sp.
  5. Pauropsalta conflua n.sp.
  6. Pauropsalta contigua n.sp.
  7. Pauropsalta ewarti n.sp.
  8. Pauropsalta herveyensis n.sp.
  9. Pauropsalta juncta n.sp.
  10. Pauropsalta katherina n.sp. Note, this name is in honor of cicada researcher Kathy Hill.
  11. Pauropsalta kriki n.sp.
  12. Pauropsalta similis n.sp.
  13. Pauropsalta sinavilla n.sp.
  14. Atrapsalta n.gen. emmotti n.sp. Note, this name is in honor of naturalist Angus Emmott (thx Henry Cook)
  15. Atrapsalta n.gen. furcilla n.sp.
  16. Atrapsalta n.gen. vinea n.sp.
  17. Haemopsalta n.gen. flammeata n.sp.
  18. Haemopsalta n.gen. georgina n.sp.
  19. Palapsalta Moulds, 2012 palaga n.sp.
  20. Palapsalta Moulds, 2012 serpens n.sp.
  21. Popplepsalta n.gen. aeroides n.sp.
  22. Uradolichos Moulds, 2012 rotunda n.sp.

The paper was announced on Twitter by Lindsay Popple on Twitter:

November 2, 2016

New Cicada Photo Guide by Nathan Emery

Filed under: Australia | Books | Nathan Emery — Dan @ 5:34 am

Update 2: Listen to an ABC radio interview with Nathan.

Update: Nathan’s books are back from the press. Buy it online, or contact him via Twitter to get yours:

Nature photographer and cicada researcher Nathan Emery is working on a new book called “A Photo Guide to Common Cicadas of the Greater Sydney Region“. It is due out at the end of October, 2016.

August 31, 2016

An early start to Australia’s cicada season

Filed under: Australia | Cystosoma | Nathan Emery — Dan @ 5:56 am

Cicada researcher and photographer Nathan Emery found his first Bladder Cicada (Cystosoma saundersii) for the year. See this iNaturalist page. It is still winter there, so this is particular interesting.

A Bladder cicada looks like this (Cystosoma saundersii):

Bladder cicadas (Cystosoma saundersii)
Photo by David Emery.

Read more about this cicada on Dr. Pop’s website.

September 25, 2015

The Great Cicada Blitz of Sydney Australia

Filed under: Australia | Nathan Emery — Dan @ 4:13 am

If you’re in the Sydney, Australia area and you see or hear a cicada this season, report it to the Great Cicada Blitz, an iNaturalist website set up by cicada researcher Nathan Emery. The purpose of this website is to map and identify the various cicada species in the Sydney area.

Cicada Blitz

January 20, 2015

Green Grocer Merch

Filed under: Australia | Cicada Mania | Cyclochila — Dan @ 6:23 am

Green Grocer

I felt bad about always using an illustration of North American cicadas, so I made a Green Grocer cicada for Australian fans.

Get this image on a shirt, mug or even a pillow case via CafePress (the mugs are the most affordable).

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