Category: Cyclochila

A big year for cicadas in Australia. Quit your job. Go there now.

Post author By Dan
Post date December 1, 2024

Green Grocer Cicada image by Bron.

2024 is shaping up to be a HUGE year for Green Grocer aka Cyclochila australasiae cicadas in Australia. Don’t believe me? Check out this article in the Sydney Morning Herald, watch the sightings pour into iNaturalist, look at the trends in Google Trends, or chat with observers on Cicada Discussion, Science and Study Group.

Looking at data from Google Trends(columns) and iNaturalist(lines), it looks like 2024 will be the best year in over ten years, with 2020, 2017 and 2013 being peak years (but not the biggest). iNaturalist is also a relatively new app/website; my guess is its user base wasn’t big enough until 2019 to compare to Google Trends.

While some Green Grocers appear every year, there is a periodicity at play. With the little data below it would seem there are two 7 year groups: one 2013 to 2020, and one 2017 to 2024. I’m making assumptions.

If my boss fires me tomorrow, I’m headed to Australia.

Green Grocer Cicada Toy

Post author By Dan
Post date September 27, 2022

A Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan, 1805)) cicada toy.

Green Grocer Toy

Green Grocers are found in eastern Australia.

Tags C. australasiae

Anapsaltoda Arenopsaltria Australia Cyclochila Stamps

Cicada Stamps from Australia

Post author By Dan
Post date September 15, 2022
1 Comment on Cicada Stamps from Australia

Looks like the post office of Australia has cicada themed stamps. As they say in the Pokemon world, “got to collect them all” (or something like that).

Update:
Here’s a photo of the actual stamps. I got them on eBay.
Cicada Stamp Set

Masked Devil (Cyclochila australasiae) stamp:
Masked Devil stamp

More about Masked Devil cicadas:

Golden Emperor (Anapsaltoda pulchra) stamp:
Golden Emperor Stamp

More about Golden Emperor cicadas:

Anapsaltoda pulchra – Golden Emperors

Sandgrinder (Arenopsaltria fullo) stamp:
Sandgrinder stamp

More Sandgrinder cicada action:

Arenopsaltria fullo (Walker, 1850)

Tags A. fullo, C. australasiae

Australia Cyclochila Cyclochilini Kees Green

Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) photos by Kees Green

Post author By Dan
Post date March 18, 2020

Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) photos from Kees Green. Australia. 2013.

Green Grocer Cyclochila australasiae nymph by Kees Green

Green Grocer Cyclochila australasiae molting by Kees Green

Green Grocer Cyclochila australasiae molting by Kees Green 02

Green Grocer Cyclochila australasiae molting by Kees Green

Green Grocer Cyclochila australasiae Adults by Kees Green

Tags C. australasiae

Australia Cyclochila Cyclochilini Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee’s Green Grocer Photos

Post author By Dan
Post date March 8, 2020

Kevin Lee’s Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) photos:

Kevin Lee's Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae)

This one is somewhere between a Green Grocer and a Yellow Monday, I think. Check out the “mask” between the eyes:
Kevin Lee's Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae)

Kevin Lee's Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae)

Tags C. australasiae

Australia Cyclochila Cyclochilini

Yellow Monday by Tom Katzoulopolopoulous

Post author By Dan
Post date February 29, 2020
1 Comment on Yellow Monday by Tom Katzoulopolopoulous

Yellow Monday (Cyclochila australasiae) photos by Tom Katzoulopolopoulous.

Tags C. australasiae

Australia Cyclochila Cyclochilini Photos & Illustrations

Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) photo by Bron

Post author By Dan
Post date February 29, 2020

Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) photo by Bron. Taken in Australia in 2007.

Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) photo by Bron

Tags C. australasiae

Australia Cyclochila Cyclochilini Edward Donovan Genera Insectorum W. L. Distant

Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan, 1805)

Post author By Dan
Post date October 23, 2018

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:

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:

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.
Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).