Cryptotympana atrata was formerly named Cryptotympana sinensis.
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Photo by Jon Allen in Yeouido park in Seoul in South Korea.
(Cryptotympana sinensis) species description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:
[Male] Head ochraceous; front with the margins (but not meeting at apex) broadly castaneous; eyes olivaceous; ocelli reddish-ochraceous, with their surrounding area castaneous. Pronotum castaneous, the margins and a central fascia, which is much widened and ampliated at base, ochraceous. Mesonotum ochraceous, with two large obconical castaneous spots near each lateral margin and two large, central, very obscure obconical spots, which are only visible by their slightly darker margins; basal cruciform elevation pale olivaceous. Abdomen above ochraceous, the posterior segmental margins castaneous. Body beneath and legs ochraceous; face with the lateral carinae castaneous; apices of the tibiae and tarsi castaneous.
Tegmina pale hyaline, the venation ochraceous, the costal membrane pale greenish, and the basal third of the tegminal area tinged with pale ochraceous. Wings pale hyaline, the venation ochraceous, and the base narrowly tinged with pale ochraceous.
The face is tumid, the lateral carina robust and slightly waved; the rostrum extends to the intermediate coxae; the opercula are somewhat short, with their lateral margins slightly concave and their posterior margins oblique, they overlap at the center, and their apices extend to about the second abdominal segment.
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.
[Male] Head pronotum and mesonotum ochraceous. Head: front with a triangular black spot near base and transverse black striae. which do not meet in the centre; vertex with two large oblique and irregular black fasciae. on disk, and a large irregular black spot on inner margin of eyes. Pronotum with two central longitudinal black fasciae, and three oblique black striae on each side the outer one submarginal and somewhat rounded. Mesonotum with a large central clavate spot, of which the apex terminates on anterior margin, bordered on each side by a subconical spot, followed by a small triangular one and a large submarginal fascia, black. Abdomen dull sanguineous, with a series of discal segmental black fasciae (they are much larger in some specimens and subconfluent). and a lateral segmental row of irregular spots. Body beneath with the sternum ochraceous, covered with greyish pubescence.
Abdomen dull sanguineous; opercula pale sanguineous; legs ochraceous.
Tegmina and wings pale hyaline.
Front very prominent and convex; head, including eyes, narrower than base of pronotum, subequal to mesonotum in width. Opercula subtriangular. well separated at base, gradually becoming more divergent, and narrowing to apex, which is obtuse, and reaches the fourth abdominal segment. Anterior femora armed with three spines; two moderately large and ochraceous, apical one small and black. Posterior tibiae with three black spines on inner side near apex, and two smaller and wider apart on outer margin.
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.
Species (Cosmopsaltria majuscula) description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:
Body above warm-ochraceous. Head with the front, — excepting base and apex, — the area of the ocelli, and a larger spot on inner margin of eyes, dark castaneous; eyes ochraceous, with their inner area olivaceous. Pronotum with a broad central longitudinal castaneous fascia and a small castaneous spot near anterior lateral margin. Mesonotum with five blackish fasciae, the central one very slender and joining a triangular fascia in front of basal cruciform elevation, on each side of the central fascia is a short and broader one, and the lateral fasciae are long, broad and slightly curved. Abdomen above ochraceous. Body beneath ochraceous; the face blackish, with a central ochraceous spot near anterior margin, and a black marginal spot between eyes and face; legs pale castaneous, the inner margins of anterior femora blackish, anterior and intermediate tibiae and tarsi somewhat darker castaneous, the posterior tarsi ochraceous.
Tegmina and wings pale hyaline, the venation ochraceous, but becoming fuscous towards apical areas; the tegmina with the costal margin fuscous beyond base of upper ulnar area, and the transverse veins at bases of second and third apical areas infuscated.
The body is long and broad; the rostrum reaches the posterior coxae; the opercula are slender and placed widely apart, concave on each side beyond base, but very slightly so outwardly, the apices rounded and reaching the fourth abdominal segment.
References:
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.
Species description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:
Head and thorax above ochraceous, with the following black markings: — Head with a central fascia to front, vertex with a central double fascia and a sinuated fascia behind each eye; pronotum with a central double fascia united at base, a large sublateral spot on each side, and a spot beneath on basal margin; mesonotum with a central longitudinal fascia, on each side of which is a short and somewhat oblique fascia, followed by a small spot on anterior margin and a broad, sublateral, irregular fascia, and a spot in front of each anterior angle of the basal cruciform elevation. Abdomen purplish red, the posterior segmental margins ochraceous, excepting those near apes, which are piceous, and with a central discal piceous spot near base. Head beneath with the anterior margin black and a central piceous spot near apex of face. Opercula ochraceous, with apices and inner margins broadly black; apex of abdomen beneath black.
Tegmina and wings pale hyaline, the venation more or less fuscous ; tegmina with the costal membrane castaneous, the transverse veins at the bases of the second and third apical areas infuscated.
The face is convex, with a central longitudinal incision, which neither reaches base nor apex. The opercula are long and broad, concavely sinuated on their outer margins near base, and with their apices obtusely rounded and about reaching the apical abdominal segment. Rostrum mutilated.
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.
Species description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:
Dilute olivacea ; fascia lata verticem fere totum occupante, fronte inter rugas, basi vittaque media exceptis, fascia genarum, loris, basi excepta, lateribus clypei, rostro apicem versus, vittis sex, lateralibus obliquis, disci antici thoracis, maculis quattuor oblongo-obtriangularibus anterioribus, lateralibus ultra medium extensis, lituraque litteram T reversam (x) simulante discoidali scutelli, dorso abdominis, apice coxarum posteriorum, vitta trochanterum, femoribus anticis subtus, tibiis apice superne, tibiis anterioribus interdum fere totis, tarsis totis vel basi et apice nigris; tegminibus alisque vitreis, interdum obsolete subinfuscatis, venis olivaceis, apicem versus obscurioribus, vena postcostali, raro ulnari, postcostali, interdum etiam costa posterius nigris ; segmento dorsali anali maris olivaceo-flavescente.
[Male] Operculis distincte nounihil longioribus quam latioribus, retrorsum sensim distincte angustatis, apice subsemicirculariter rotundatis, prope basin contiguis, baud tamen valvantibus, dein sensim divaricatis, olivaceo-flavescentibus, intus ssepius nigricantibus.
References:
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.
Species description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:
Body black; eyes castaneous; anterior, lateral, and posterior margins of pronotum (the first narrowly), and an abbreviated, central, narrow, longitudinal fascia to same, posterior margin of metanotum, head beneath (excluding face), sternum and opercula pale greenish-ochraceous; legs and rostrum black. Body more or less clothed with greyish pile, especially at the lateral margins of the mesonotum and the base and segmental margins of the abdomen.
Tegmina semihyaline and of a pale shining bronzy hue, the venation darker and either ochraceous or greenish, the costal membrane pale greenish; the extreme base and the veins enclosing the postcostal area black; the veins enclosing the two uppermost apical areas, the terminal vein of the lower ulnar area, and the outer margin dark bronzy. Wings pale bluish-green, becoming pale bronzy towards apex, the outer margin dark bronzy.
The opercula are broad and divergent, their outer margins convex, their inner margins oblique, their apices obtusely angulated and not reaching the middle of the abdomen. The rostrum about reaches the posterior coxae.
References:
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.
The Tacua speciosa is a beautiful cicada native to the countries Malaysia & Indonesia, and the islands Borneo & Sumatra, and likely other islands and nations of the area. Tacua speciosa are well known for their large size, opaque wings, black body, striking yellow/chartreuse pronotal collar, red cruciform elevation, and cyan or yellow tergites. There are two subspecies.
The name speciosa comes from the Latin word “specios” which means beautiful or showy.
Recently updated Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
Body above black ; eyes, anterior pronotal margin (narrowly), posterior margin of pronotum, posterior margin of the third, and the whole of the fourth, fifth and sixth abdominal segments, ochraceous ; basal cruciform elevation red, with its anterior angles black ; body beneath black ; lateral areas and margins to prosternum, a spot at lateral margins of third abdominal segment, and the lateral margins of the fourth, fifth and sixth abdominal segments, ochraceous. Tegmina black, coastal membrane and venation dull reddish, outer margin narrowly creamy-white wings black, the outer margin (excluding anal area) creamy-white. Var. a. Tegmina and wings greyish-brown, the black coloration only observable at margins of the veins. Long.excl.tegm. 47 to 57 millim. Exp.tegm.150 to 180 millim.
Two Distinct Types:
This image comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Which is which in the photos and illustrations on this page? Can you tell?
Normal form (#9 in the image): “Tegmina [forewings] black, coastal membrane and venation dull reddish, outer margin narrowly creamy-white wings black, the outer margin (excluding anal area) creamy-white.”
Variety A (#10 in the image) “Tegmina and wings are greying-brown, the black coloration only observable around the veins.”
Size:
T. speciosa is one of the largest cicadas. According to the Distant’s description above — tegm.[forewings] 150 to 180 millim. That’s 5.9 to 7.1 inches. According to my own collection (I have 2). The male is 160mm (6.3″), and the female is 142mm (5.7″). Both are smaller than the Megapomponia and largest Tosena in my collection. T. speciosa cicadas are big, but not the biggest.
The only document specifically about the T. speciosa I’ve found is Boulard, M. 1994c. Tacua speciosa, variete decolorata n. var. (Homoptera, Cicadidae). Revue Française d’Entomologie. 16: 66. — however, that document usually costs around $60, which I’m not ready to invest in (I’ll spend the money on cicadas).
At one point in time, the Tacua speciosa was one of the most illustrated cicadas:
Original Source: From Dictionnaire universel d’histoire naturelle. (Paris: Renard, 1841-1849) Orbigny, Charles d’, Author.
Original Source: From Animate creation : a popular edition of “Our living world” : a natural history. (New York: Selmar Hess, 1885) Wood, J. G. (John George) (1827-1889), Author.
Pop culture note: this species of cicada was featured on the Wednesday, January 16, 2013 episode of the Daily Show. It is not, however, a 17-year cicada. 🙂 T. speciosa probably has a 2-7 year lifecycle and is not a periodical cicada, but it might be proto-periodical (but most likely is an annual species).
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.
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:
Illustration from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant.
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.
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.
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.
I recently found a book called A monograph of oriental cicadidae in the Internet Archive. The A monograph of oriental cicadidae was authored by W. L. Distant, and published in 1892 — that’s 116 years ago! The book contains plenty of text and illustrations, some of which I’ll include below:
. Note that one of its older names was Cicada indica!
