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September 28, 2018

Ambragaeana stellata (Walker, 1858)

Filed under: Ambragaeana | China | Francis Walker | Gaeanini | Genera Insectorum | India | Thailand — Dan @ 6:54 pm

Once known as Gaeana stellatayes, its name has changedAmbragaeana stellata (Walker, 1858) can be found in China, Thailand, India, and likey other nations the south-eastern part of Asia. Ambragaeana cicadas belong to a group nicknamed the “butterfly cicadas” because of the butterfly-like colors and patterns of their wings.

“Stellata”, I believe, is derived from the Latin word for “star” — it doesn’t take much imagination to see the “stars” in the wings of this cicada.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
SubTribe: Gaeanina
Genus: Ambragaeana
Species: Ambragaeana stellata (Walker, 1858)

Ambragaeana stellata stellata (Walker, 1858)
The image says Gaeana stellata, but the newest name for this cicada is Ambragaeana stellata.

photo by Michel Chantraine
Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Worth noting: There are two sub-species of Ambragaeana.

References:

  1. The illustration comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1914 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Gaeaninae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Species name information/verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

May 12, 2018

Cicadas of Asia

Filed under: Genera | India | Indonesia | Japan | Korea | Malaysia | Singapore | Thailand | Vietnam — Dan @ 11:26 am

Many species shown on this page are not endemic to a single country. Typically if a cicada can be found in one country in Indo-China (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam), it will be found in many others, as well as southern China.

Ambragaeana Chou & Yau, 1985

ambragaeana ambra photo by Michel Chantraine
Ambragaeana ambra Chou & Yao, 1985. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Ambragaeana ambra is found in Indo-China and China.

Angamiana Distant, 1890

angamiana floridula photo by Michel Chantraine
Angamiana floridula Distant, 1904

Angamiana floridula is found in Indo-China and China.

Ayuthia Distant, 1919

Ayuthia spectabile Distant, 1919
Ayuthia spectabile Distant, 1919.

Ayuthia spectabile is found in Indo-China and China.

Becquartina Kato, 1940

Becquartina electa by Michel Chantraine
Becquartina electa (Jacobi, 1902) from Thailand. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Becquartina electa is found in Indo-China and China.

Becquartina versicolor Boulard, 2005
Becquartina versicolor Boulard, 2005 Thailand. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Becquartina versicolor is found primarily in Thailand, but I imagine it can be found in adjacent nations as well.

Callogaeana Chou & Yao, 1985

Callogaeana festiva festiva
Callogaeana festiva festiva (Fabricius, 1803). Formerly Gaeana festiva.

Callogaeana festiva festiva is found in Indo-China and China.

Chremistica Stål, 1870

Cicadmalleus

Cryptotympana Stål, 1861

cryptotympana aquila Photo by Michel Chantraine
Cryptotympana aquila (Walker, 1850) from Thailand. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Cryptotympana aquila has a huge range from Korea south to Indo-China, as well as, Borneo, Sumatra and Brunei.

C. arata A cicada photo from South Korea
Female Cryptotympana atrata (Fabricius, 1775) from Korea. Photo by Jon Allen.

Cryptotympana atrata has a large range from Indo-China north to Korea.

Cryptotympana mandarina. Michel chantraine.
Cryptotympana mandarina Distant, 1891. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Distantalna Boulard, 2009

Distantalna splendida formerly Tosena splendida
Distantalna splendida (Distant, 1878)

Dundubia Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Dundubia
Dundubia sp. Photo by Santisuk Vibul.

Dundubia spiculata
Dundubia spiculata Noualhier, 1896. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Euterpnosia Matsumura, 1917

Euterpnosia chibensis photos by Osamu Hikino. Japan.
Euterpnosia chibensis. Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Formotosena Kato, 1925

Formotosena montivaga (Distant, 1889)
Formotosena montivaga (Distant, 1889). Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Gaeana Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Gaeana cheni
Gaeana cheni Chou & Yao, 1985. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Hyalessa China, 1925

Hyalessa maculaticollis maculaticollis photo by Osamu Hikino. Japan.Hyalessa maculaticollis maculaticollis (de Motschulsky, 1866). Photo by Osamu Hikino.

Huechys Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Huechys sanguinea
Huechys sanguinea (Degeer, 1773). Photo by Michel Chantraine.

H. sanguinea can be found throughout Asia, including China, Indo-China, India & Pakistan.

Lyristes Horváth, 1926

Depending on who you ask, the Genus is Lyristes or Tibicen, so I’ll mention both. Wait — not it’s Auritibicen.

A. flammatus
Lyristes flammatus or Tibicen flammatus (Distant, 1892)

L. flammatus aka T. flammatus (there is some dispute over the name of the genus) can be found in Japan, Korea and China.

Macrosemia Kato, 1925

Macrosemia chantrainei Boulard, 2003
Macrosemia chantrainei Boulard, 2003. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Macrosemia tonkiniana (Jacobi, 1905)
Macrosemia tonkiniana (Jacobi, 1905). Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Macrosemia umbrata Cicada Found in Arunachal Pradesh, India by Raghu Ananth
Macrosemia umbrata. Photo by Raghu Ananth.

Orientopsaltria Kato, 1944

Orientopsaltria beaudouini Boulard, 2003
Orientopsaltria beaudouini Boulard, 2003. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Platylomia Stål, 1870

Platylomia radah
Platylomia radah (Distant, 1881). Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Platypleura Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Platypleura capitata by Raghu Ananth, taken near Mysore, India:
Platypleura capitata (Olivier, 1790). Photo by Raghu Ananth.

Pomponia Stål, 1866

Purana Distant, 1905

Salvazana Distant, 1913

Salvazana mirabilis imperialis Distant, 1918
Salvazana mirabilis imperialis Distant, 1918. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Salvazana mirabilis
Salvazana mirabilis mirabilis Distant, 1913

Sulphogaeana Chou & Yao, 1985

Mating Gaeana sulphurea from Bhutan taken by Jeff Blincow
Sulphogaeana sulphurea (Westwood, 1839).

Tacua Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Tacua speciosa (Illger, 1980) photos from Malaysia. The author of the image wishes to be anonymous.
Tacua speciosa (Illger, 1980). Photo by Anonymous.

Tailanga Distant, 1890

Tailanga binghami
Tailanga binghami Distant, 1890. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

T. binghami is found in China and the countries of Indo-China.

Tosena Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Tosena albata
Tosena albata
Distant, 1878. Photo by Michel Chantraine.

Trengganua Moulton, 1923

Blog Catagories:

Links for further research:

Southeast Asia

India

Japan

Cicada species names and locations verified using The Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha) by Allen F Sanborn.

December 10, 2017

The World Cup Cicada, Chremistica ribhoi

Filed under: Chremistica | India | Periodical | Sudhanya Hajong | Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) — Tags: — Dan @ 1:01 am

Update: this cicada has a Leap-Year Brood (2024) as well as a World-Cup Brood (2026)! Both have 4-year year life cycle.

cicada soccer

Chremistica ribhoi Hajong and Yaakop 2013 is a cicada that lives in the Ri-Boi district of India. C. ribhoi is known as the World Cup cicada because it emerges every four years in synch with the World Cup association football (soccer) tournament.

C. ribhoi is known locally as Niangtasar. It only lives in a very small area: Saiden village (25°51’37.1″N 91°51’16.3″E) and Lailad/Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary (25°55’09.7″N 91°46’25.0″E) situated on the northern part of the state of Meghalaya. The cicada can be identified by the presence of two white spots on either side of the anterior abdominal segment.

Researcher Sudhanya Hajong is gearing up to study these cicadas since this is the year they will emerge. Ri-Boi area locals use these cicadas as a food source and fish bait. These cicadas are threatened by deforestation (cutting down forests for agricultural purposes). Sudhanya plans to educate locals about conserving them and protecting their habitat.

Photos of Chremistica ribhoi.

Most of the facts in the post come from the following document: Hajong, S.R. 2013. Mass emergence of a cicada (Homoptera: Cicadidae) and its capture methods and consumption by villagers in ri-bhoi district of Meghalaya. Department of Zoology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong – 793 022, Meghalaya, India.

Thanks to Chris Simon of The Simon Lab at UCONN for providing the information that made this post possible.

Note: the image in this article is not an accurate depiction of C. ribhoi. 🙂


There’s also a brood of C. ribhoi that emerges during Leap-years.

July 23, 2016

New paper catalogs the cicadas of India, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka

Filed under: India | Papers and Documents — Dan @ 6:09 am

A paper titled The cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka: an annotated provisional catalogue, regional checklist and bibliography was published in June of 2016 in the Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e8051. The authors of the document include, Benjamin Wills Price, Elizabeth Louise Allan, Kiran Marathe, Vivek Sarkar, Chris Simon, Krushnamegh Kunte, but I think Ben was the lead.

You can access it here: http://bdj.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=8051

Quotes from the abstract:

Background

The cicadas of the Indian subcontinent, like many other insects in the region, have remained understudied since the early part of the 20th Century, and await modern taxonomic, systematic and phylogenetic treatment. This paper presents an updated systematic catalogue of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the first in over a century.

New information

This paper treats 281 species, including: India and Bangladesh (189 species), Bhutan (19 species), Myanmar (81 species), Nepal (46 species) and Sri Lanka (22 species). For each species all recognized junior synonyms are included with information on the type material and additional specimens where relevant.

For images of the cicada described in the document, head on over to the Cicadas of India website.

May 8, 2014

Gaeana atkinsoni from the Uttara Kannada district in India

Filed under: Gaeana | Gaeanini | India | Raghu Ananth — Dan @ 1:46 am

Here’s a cicada I never thought I would see, but thanks to Raghu Ananth, here are two photos of a Tosena sibyla Gaeana atkinsoni.

Gaeana atkinsoni Distant, 1892 from Uttara Kannada district in India by Raghu Ananth

This photo was taken on May 2nd, 2009:

Gaeana atkinsoni Distant, 1892 from Uttara Kannada district in India by Raghu Ananth

Note the characteristic double stripes on the forewings. Note how the smaller stripe doesn’t make it all the way to the claval fold.

Here are observations about this cicada provided by Raghu Ananth:

Brief description –
The cicada has red eyes, red thorax with black patch above, red abdomen, black wings with yellow veins and a large yellow patch lines on the wings.

Numbers. found – several dozens.
Habitat – tree barks near forest path
length – 4-5 cms

The orange-red coloured cicada is one of the beautiful cicadas in the forests. It has a red body, red eyes and black wings with yellow patches. During one of our trips to the evergreen forests in the Uttara Kannada district (Karnataka), we spotted two of them camouflaged on the bark of each tree, actively walking up and down and then appearing a colourful red when in flight from one bark of the tree to another. Their singing, however, seemed not in sync with each another. On our approach, they would try to hide behind the bark or fly to a distant tree.

Gaeana atkinsoni
This illustration of a T. sibylla Gaeana atkinsoni comes from the document A monograph of oriental cicadidae (1892) by W. L. Distant.

Updated (5/8/2014) with a video by Harinath Ravichandran:

July 16, 2013

Help identify these cicadas from India

Filed under: India | Macrosemia | Raghu Ananth — Dan @ 5:46 am

Raghu Ananth sent us these photos of cicadas from India. If you can identify them, let use know.

UPDATE: David Emery provided use with these ID’s, in Order from Top to Bottom:

Macrosemia umbrata. Platypleura capitata, Platypleura sp and Pomponia linearis.
Macrosemia umbrata Cicada Found in Arunachal Pradesh, India by Raghu Ananth

Click the images for a larger version:

Cicada Found Near Mysore, India: Platypleura capitata
Platypleura capitata by Raghu Ananth, taken near Mysore, India:

Cicada Found in Kukke Subramanya: Platypleura sp

Cicada Found in Kukke Subramanya, Karnataka, India by Raghu Ananth

Cicada Found in Bhagamandala, Coorg, India: Pomponia linearis

Pomponia linearis Cicada Found in Bhagamandala, Coorg, India by Raghu Ananth

Cicada Found in Arunachal Pradesh_ India by Raghu Ananth
Cicada Found in Arunachal Pradesh_ India by Raghu Ananth 2

November 3, 2008

Cicadas of India

Filed under: India — Dan @ 7:13 pm

If you’re curious as to what cicadas in India look like, check out India Nature Watch, and visit their Cicadidae and Cicada pages. Try a search on their site too to reveal more.

This cicada is particularly pretty.

Update (2012), also visit The Cicadas of India Facebook group.

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