Category: Tosena

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Arenopsaltriini Gaeanini India John O. Westwood Tosena Tosenini Vittagaeana

Vittagaeana dives (Westwood, 1842)

This is a Vittagaeana dives (Westwood, 1842) from the W.T. Davis cicada collection at the Staten Island Museum. I believe they can be found in India.

This cicada was formerly known as Tosena dives, but its name recently changed due to research done as part of the article: Hill Kathy B. R., Marshall David C., Marathe Kiran, Moulds Maxwell S., Lee Young June, Pham Thai-Hong, Mohagan Alma B., Sarkar Vivek, Price Benjamin W., Duffels J. P., Schouten Marieke A., de Boer Arnold J., Kunte Krushnamegh, Simon Chris (2021) The molecular systematics and diversification of a taxonomically unstable group of Asian cicada tribes related to Cicadini Latreille, 1802 (Hemiptera:Cicadidae). Invertebrate Systematics 35, 570-601.

Tosena dives (Westwood, 1842)

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
Genus: Vittagaeana
Species: Vittagaeana dives (Westwood, 1842)

See the related cicada: Vittagaeana paviei (Noualhier, 1896)

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Martin Kolner Tosena Tosenini

A male Tosena species cicada from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

A male Tosena species cicada from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

A male Tosena species cicada from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

Circa 2013.

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Martin Kolner Tosena Tosenini

A Tosena species cicada from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

A Tosena species cicada from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

A Tosena species cicada from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

Circa 2013.

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Burma India Michel Chantraine Nepal Oriental Cicadidae Thailand Tosena Tosenini Vietnam W. L. Distant

Tosena albata Distant, 1878

Tosena albata is a cicada found in Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. In the past, this cicada was known as Tosena melanoptera.

Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Tosena albata

Description:

Tegmina with five longitudinal greyish fasciae, one occupying radial area, and the others divided by ulnar veins, two of which amalgamate with the transverse fascia, and five irregular greyish fasciae situate in the apical areas. Wings with nine greyish ray-like fasciae situate on outer margin, the one at anal area largest; two-thirds of the outer margin narrowly edged with greyish. Apices of the femora not ochraceous.

Long. excl. tegm. Male 58 to 62 millim.; Female 48 millim. Exp. tegm. Male, 140 to 155 millim. Female, 130 millim.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Tosenini
Genus: Tosena
Species: Tosena albata Distant, 1878

For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.

References:

  1. The description and location information comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
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Burma Cambodia China Gaeanini Laos Maurice Noualhier Michel Chantraine Thailand Tosena Tosenini Vietnam Vittagaeana

Vittagaeana paviei (Noualhier, 1896)

Vittagaeana paviei is a cicada found in Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Note that the name of this cicada is changing due to research done as part of the article: Hill Kathy B. R., Marshall David C., Marathe Kiran, Moulds Maxwell S., Lee Young June, Pham Thai-Hong, Mohagan Alma B., Sarkar Vivek, Price Benjamin W., Duffels J. P., Schouten Marieke A., de Boer Arnold J., Kunte Krushnamegh, Simon Chris (2021) The molecular systematics and diversification of a taxonomically unstable group of Asian cicada tribes related to Cicadini Latreille, 1802 (Hemiptera:Cicadidae). Invertebrate Systematics 35, 570-601.

Female V. paviei. Photo by Dan Mozgai:
Tosena paviei

Male T. paviei. Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Tosena paviei

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
Genus: Vittagaeana
Species: Vittagaeana paviei (Noualhier, 1896)

See the related cicada: Vittagaeana dives (Westwood, 1842)

Categories
Borneo Indonesia Malaysia Oriental Cicadidae Tosena Tosenini W. L. Distant

Tosena depicta Distant, 1888

Tosena depicta Distant, 1888 is a cicada found on Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia), and possbily other islands of the Malay archipelago.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Tosenini
Genus: Tosena
Species: Tosena depicta Distant, 1888

Tosena depicta Distant, 1888

Species specimen description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:

Head and thorax above black; head with a spot at apex of front and a spot at each anterior angle of vertex, two central spots on anterior margin of pronotum, the posterior margin of pronotum, four spots in transverse series on mesonotum, and the posterior margin of mesonotum ochraceous ; the centre of basal cruciform elevation black. Abdomen above reddish ochraceous, with a central, longitudinal, narrow, dorsal, fuscous fascia. Head beneath, sternum, a lateral fascia to opercula, and legs black; a spot at base and one on each side of base of face ; coxas, apices of femora and tibia, tarsi (excluding base) and rostrum (excluding apex) ochraceous. Body beneath ochraceous, the basal segment blackish.

Tegmma dark olivaceous, the costal membrane and the venation reddish ochraceous, and with a transverse and slightly oblique greyish-white fascia near centre, not extending above the base of the second ulnar area; posterior basal margin narrowly reddish ochraceous. Wings black, the basal area reddish ochraceous, with its posterior margin black.

The rostrum reaches the apex of the basal abdominal segment, and the tegmina have their apices considerably attenuated.

Long. excl. tegm. 36 millim. Exp. tegm. 90 millim.

References:

  1. The illustration, description and location information comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Arts & Crafts Callogaeana Cryptotympana Hemisciera Tacua Talainga Thopha Tosena Zammara

Better IDs for E.A. Seguy Cicada Illustrations

The NCSU Libraries Rare and Unique Digital Collections website recently reminded the us of artist Eugene Alain (E.A.) Seguy’s insect illustrations. Seguy created these illustrations in the 1920’s, and as you might imagine, some of the cicada names cited in the notes for these illustrations have changed. Names typically change when cicadas are reclassified due to discoveries about their biology, or when we realize that someone else had actually named them earlier than the namer currently given credit.

Here are the two illustrations, the accompanying identification, and corrected identifications.

Illustration:

EA Seguy Cicada Art

Accompanying identification:

1. Tacua speciosa. Indes; 2. Polyneura ducalis. Indes Or.; 3. Cicada saccata. Australie; 4. Cicada fascialis. Siam; 5. Tozena melanoptera. Indes Or.

Corrected or expanded identification:

  1. Tacua speciosa. This is correct, although there are two subspecies of T. speciosa, I’m going to guess it is Tacua speciosa speciosa (Illiger, 1800) based on the location.
  2. Polyneura ducalis. This is correct. Polyneura ducalis Westwood, 1840.
  3. Cicada saccata. This is now: Thopha saccata (Fabricius, 1803).
  4. Cicada fascialis. This is now: Cryptotympana facialis facialis (Walker, 1858). Update: David Emery says this might be a Cryptotympana acuta (Signoret, 1849).
  5. Tozena melanoptera. Close enough. Tosena melanoptera melanoptera (White, 1846). There are a few unnamed subspecies.

Illustration:

EA Seguy Cicada Art

Accompanying identification:

1. Goeana festiva. Indes; 2. Zammara tympanum. Amérique du Sud; 3. Goeana ochracea. Indes; 4. Phenax variegata. Brésil; 5. Hemisciera maculipennis. Amazone

Corrected or expanded identification:

  1. Goeana festiva is actually Callogaeana festiva festiva (Fabricius, 1803).
  2. Zammara tympanum. This is correct. Zammara tympanum (Fabricius, 1803).
  3. Goeana ochracea is way off. It is a Talainga binghami Distant, 1890.
  4. Phenax variegata is not a cicada, is it a fulgoroid planthopper, but the id is correct.
  5. Hemisciera maculipennis is correct. Hemisciera maculipennis (de Laporte, 1832) aka the “Stop and Go” cicada, because its colors resemble the colors of a stop light.
Categories
Angamiana Becquartina Gaeana Platypleura Tacua Thailand Tosena Trengganua

A visual comparison of some cicadas of Southeast Asia

This is a photo of one of my displays at home. Some of the specimens aren’t in the best shape, but it is good enough to distinguish the species.

Angamiana floridula, Becquartina electa, Gaeana cheni, Gaeana festiva, Platypleura mira, Tacua speciosa, Tosena albata, Tosena melanoptera, Tosena paviei, and Trengganua sibylla are featured in the image.

A visual comparison of some cicadas of Southeast Asia

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Angamiana Tosena Vietnam

Cicadas from Vietnam

Updated as of 2/20/2014.

Martin Kolner sent us photos of two beautiful cicadas from Sapa Vietnam.

The first one belongs to the genus Angamiana, and I think it is an Angamiana floridula might be a Proretineta vermacula (Chou& Yao, 1985), according to David Emery.

An Angamiana from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

The second cicada belongs to the genus Tosena.

A Tosena species cicada from Sapa Vietnam photo by Martin Kolner

According to David, the Tosena is “likely to be T.fasciata (melanoptera does not have orange anywhere), even though the dorsal markings are pretty bleached”.

Categories
Oriental Cicadidae Tosena Tosenini W. L. Distant

Tosena Cicadas

Tosena is a genus of cicadas that can be found in the Indo-Malaya ecozone, which includes the Indian subcontinent, Southeastern Asia and southern China. Tosena cicadas have colorful wings, which rival the beauty of butterfly wings. Tosena are easily obtainable online from stores that sell insects, or ebay. The Tosena genus was first identified by Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot & Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville in 1843.

From A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant:

Tosena is one of the most conspicuous genera of the Cicadidae, and its species are all included in this fauna. The north-eastern districts of Continental India are its head-quarters, for here are focused some of the largest and handsomest of its species ; it is also well represented in Burma, and from thence its distribution is extended throughout the Malay Peninsula to the south, and apparently northward as far as some portions of China. In the Malayan Archipelago it is not uncommon in Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and as I have seen representatives from Amboyna, it probably exists in other intervening islands, of which, however, we have at present no precise information.

Different types of Tosena:

Tosena albata:

Tosena albata
Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Photos of live T. albata.

Distinguishing features: Mustard colored pronotal collar, orange abdomen with a series of two black circular spots, and dark brown wings with one white stripe on each fore wing.

Habitat: Southeast Asia.

Tosena depicta:

Tosena depicta
Illustration from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant.

Photos of living T. depicta.

Distinguishing features: A vibrant green pronotal collar; an orange abdomen with a series of black markings; wings are dark brown to black, with the one white stripe on each fore wing, and a white anal lobe on each hind wing.

Phantastic songs of the S.E. Asian cicadas! website has an MP3 of a T. depicta singing.

Habitat: Southeast Asia.

Tosena fasciata

Tosena fasciata by Álvaro Lisón Gómez
Tosena fasciata by Álvaro Lisón Gómez Creative Commons License.

Photo of a live T. fasciata.

Distinguishing features: A pale orange pronotal collar; brown wings with one white stripe on each fore wing; an orange abdomen with one black spot; the the anal lobe of the hind wing appears lighter in color than the rest of the hind wing.

Habitat: Southeast Asia.

Tosena mearesiana

No photos.

Distinguishing features: See A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant

Habitat: India.

Tosena melanoptera

Photos of a live T. melanoptera.

Distinguishing features: Red eyes; white pronotal collar; pale brown stripe on dark brown fore wings.

Habitat: India & Southeast Asia.

Tosena monitvaga

No photos.

Distinguishing features: See A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant

Habitat: India.

Sources to learn more about Tosena cicadas:

  • The Book Cicadas of Thailand: General and Particular Characteristics. Volume 1 by Michel Boulard. This book mentions Tosena, in particular, many times, and in general it does an excellent job of discussing the anatomy, behavior and habitat of cicadas found in Thailand.
  • A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant. (1889, Published by the Order of the Trustees of the Indian Museum of Calcutta).
  • Rhynchota: Heteroptera-Homopetera ( Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma ) by W. L. Distant (1906)
  • The Cicadas of India Facebook page