Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.
Platypleura watsoni, also known as Platypleura mokensis, is a cicada found in Thailand, India, and Myanmar (Burma), and very likely adjacent nations.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
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Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura watsoni (Distant, 1897)
Platylomia radah is a cicada found in Burma, China, India, Nepal, and Thailand.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Dundubiini
SubTribe: Dundubiina
Genus: Platylomia
Species: Platylomia radah (Distant, 1881)
For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.
Macrosemia tonkiniana is a cicada found in Burma, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Dundubiini
SubTribe: Macrosemiina
Genus: Macrosemia
Species: Macrosemia tonkiniana (Jacobi, 1905)
Macrosemia umbrata is a cicada found in China, Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand, and likely adjacent nations.
Photo by Raghu Ananth taken in Arunachal Pradesh, India.
This cicada is also known as Macrosemia chantrainei2. Here is a photo by Michel Chantraine:
Same insect?
Description (from when the cicada was known as Cosmopsaltria umbrata):
Male. Head and thorax above obscure olivaceous. Head with the lateral margins to the front, the area of the ocelli, and some irregular spots on each lateral area of the vertex black; eyes ochraceous. Pronotum with two u-regular central black fasciae, ampliated at base and apex, and with two at each lateral margin, the posterior margin with its edge narrowly black and a black spot near lateral angles. Mesonotum with two central blackish obconical spots, between which a narrow l)lack fascia extends to the base, and a black spot in front of each anterior angle of the basal cruciform elevation. Abdomen above largely suffused with dull black shadings. Body beneath olivaceous; a central fascia to face, the anterior margin between face and eyes, inner margins and apices of femora, and the tibia more or less blackish. Opercula olivaceous, their apices and a spot near base blackish. Abdomen beneath olivaceous, largely suffused with black shadings.
Tegmina and wings pale hyaline, the venation fuscous; tegmina with the base and costal membrane fuscous, the transverse veins at the bases of the second, third, fifth, and seventh apical areas and the apices of the longitudinal veins of apical areas infuscated.
The rostrum has the apex pitchy and just passing the posterior coxa; the opercula are somewhat narrowed, concavely sinuated on each side near the base, and narrowed towards apices, which are obtusely and reach the fourth abdominal segment.
Long. excl. tegm. 46 millim. Exp. tegm. 120 millim.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Dundubiini
SubTribe: Macrosemiina
Genus: Macrosemia
Species: Macrosemia umbrata (Distant, 1888)
For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.
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:
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.
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:
Male T. paviei. Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
Genus: Vittagaeana
Species: Vittagaeana paviei (Noualhier, 1896)
See the related cicada: Vittagaeana dives (Westwood, 1842)
Dundubia spiculata is a cicada found in China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Dundubiini
SubTribe: Dundubiina
Genus: Dundubia
Species: Dundubia spiculata Noualhier, 1896
Distantalna splendida splendida is a cicada found in China, Thailand, India, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. It is formerly known as Tosena splendida. It is known in pop culture as the basis for the Cicada 3301 logo.
Photo by Dan Mozgai:
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
This description comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website:
Body above black; front with a reddish spot at each basal angle; eyes, two small spots on vertex, four large spots to pronotum (two on disk and one at each posterior lateral angle) and two spots on disk of mesonotum,* luteous. Body beneath and legs black; lateral margins of the face, a wide central annulation to femora, and a central discal series of subtriangular spots, sanguineous.
Tegmina and wings— where not obscured by darker markings— pale hyaline, exhibiting varied opaline luster, which in some lights is found to be ornamented with close and regular series of transverse darker strife ; tegmina at base (narrowly) and costal membrane shining blackish ; venation bright luteous and for two-thirds from base broadly margined with shining blackish, and a series of shining blackish marginal spots on the apices of longitudinal veins to apical areas largest and somewhat fused at apex; claval area pale greenish. Wings pale greenish for nearly two-thirds their area from the base; remaining apical area shining blackish, enclosing a submarginal series of pale opaline spots, of which the largest are subapical.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Ayuthiini (formerly Tosenini as of 20212)
Subtribe: Distantalnina
Genus: Distantalna
Species: Distantalna splendida splendida (Distant, 1878)
Huechys sanguinea is a cicada found in Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, and likely many other nations in Asia. There are at least 5 subspecies of this cicada. It is also known as the “medicinal cicada” because people use it as a medicine (see my translation below).
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Description1:
Body and legs black; front and face to head, two large spots to mesonotum — sometimes fused and covering the whole disk — and the abdomen, sanguineous; base of abdomen narrowly black.
Tegmina black, opaque; wings shining fuscous, sometimes almost black, the interior of the anal area always paler.
Rostrum passing the intermediate coxae; face moderately compressed, and very coarsely striate.
Long. excl. tegm. Male and Female 17 to 25 millim. Exp. tegm. 43 to 65 millim.
Here’s my translation, from French, of a note about the medicinal properties of the cicada. The original text comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas:
According to Dr. Fumouze, “Huechys sanguinea, the Cicada sangiunolenta d’OIivier, is a very strong [common] insect in certain provinces of China, where it is harvested for the needs [valuable medicinal properties] of the species. In China, this insect would pass into China to enjoy curative properties, and it would be used chiefly in the treatment of rabies, but its value as much as the medicine against rabies is doubtful, but its action on the genitourinary organs seems to be certain, and this is what is in the fore, if the Huechys sanguinea would not yield a particular or similar active ingredient to the cantharides, what I can say now, it is because, by the procedures used to extract Cantharidin from cantharides, I have obtained no results, perhaps I will be later after that, but my first researches have not been completely unsuccessful, because I arrived to extract from Huechys sanguinea the material which gives to the abdominous teguments of this insect their magnificent yellow-orange color. This matter, which I will call Huechys’ red, is of a color exactly like that of the abdomen of the animal, as you can see by means of a sample which I put before your eyes. Huechys sanguinea also contains, but in smaller quantities, another yellowish, hygrometric dying material. “- Btdl. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1888, pp. xxii., xxiii.
TL;DR = “People use it to treat rabies, but it’s doubtful it actually works as a rabies treatment. It does work for its ‘Viagra-like’ properties. And its red pigment can be extracted.”
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadettinae
Tribe: Cicadettini
SubTribe: Huechysina
Genus: Huechys
Species:
For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.
Talainga binghami Distant, 1890, is found in Burma, Vietnam, and south-east Asia, in general.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
SubTribe: Talaingina
Genus: Talainga
Species: Talainga binghami Distant, 1890
Photo by Michel Chantraine.
Talainga genus description by W. L. Distant:
Characters. — Head (including eyes) a little narrower than base of mesonotum, about as long as breadth between eyes, front globose and prominent, shorter than vertex; pronotum about as long as mesonotum, its lateral margins a little convex, angularly incised before ‘posterior angles which are ampliated; abdomen somewhat cylindrical, longer than space between apex of head and base of cruciform elevation; tympanal coverings small and lateral; anterior femora robustly spined beneath; tegmina talc-like, semi-opaque, the apical half with the venation reticulate and forming a mass of small cellular areas, sometimes the ulnar areas are crossed by transverse veins, basal cell about twice as long- as broad; wings with the posterior margin deeply sinuate near the abdominal area; apical areas six, sometimes broken up by transverse veins into a more numerous and reticulate series.