January 15, 2024

A Platypleura kaempferi

This cicada is a Platypleura kaempferi. The photo comes from us from Richard Newfrock. Platypleura kaempferi is a member of the tribe Platypleurini. P. kaempfer is found in China, South Korea, Japan and other locations — even Poland (but that cicada was likely transported along with produce or in the root ball of a plant). Platypleura means flat/broad sides, and kaempferi likely refers to Emil Kaempfer or Kaempfer’s woodpecker, whose wing resembles the wing of the cicada.

There are three species of Platypleura kaempferi¹ (I don’t know what distinguishes them. I don’t see the separate subspecies on iNaturalist either):

P. kaempferi brevipennis Naruse, 1983, which seems to be found in Japan.
P. kaempferi ridleyana Distant, 1905, which seems to be found exclusively in the Malay peninsula.
P. kaempferi kaempferi (Fabricius, 1794), which is found throughout Asia.

Platypleura

Here’s the iNaturalist collection of Platypleura kaempferi photos.

Here’s a comparison of the wing of Kaempfer’s Woodpecker with out possible Platypleura kaempferi:

Wing comparison

Although the woodpecker and cicada resemble each other, Yasumasa Saisho let us know that Platypleura kaempferi was described by the German biologist Engelbert Kämpfer, and its scientific name is derived from it.

Richard Newfrock took the photo of the cicada, and Joao Quental took the photo of Kaempfer’s Woodpecker (Celeus obrieni, Caxias, Maranhão, Brasil) which is under a CC BY 2.0 license.

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A Yanga pulverea from Moramanga, Madagascar

Filed under: Madagascar | Platypleurini | Richard Newfrock | Yanga — Dan @ 12:28 pm

This is a Yanga pulverea from Moramonga, Madagascar from the collection of Richard Newfrock.

This is a Yanga pulverea from Moramonga, Mogagascar from the collection of Richard Newfrock.

Yanga pulverea belongs to the cicada tribe Platypleurini, which are known for their prominent pronotal collars and infuscations on their wings. Platy means broad & flat, and pleur means side. Broad side, flat side. I don’t know the root of the word Yanga, but pulverea means power or dust. Here’s photos of living Y. pulvera on iNaturalist.

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October 16, 2022

Platypleura arabica stamp from the State of Qatar

Filed under: Platypleura | Platypleurini | Qatar | Stamps — Dan @ 5:48 am

Platypleura arabica, the Arabian Cicada, stamp from the State of Qatar:

Platypleura arabica stamp from the State of Qatar

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March 24, 2019

Platypleura watsoni = Platypleura mokensis

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:
] Platypleura mokensis

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura watsoni (Distant, 1897)

References:

Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

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March 23, 2019

Platypleura hampsoni (Distant, 1887)

Filed under: India | Oriental Cicadidae | Platypleura | Platypleurini | W. L. Distant — Dan @ 1:01 am

Platypleura hampsoni is a cicada found in India.

Platypleura hampsoni

Image and Description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website:

Male. Head luteous; front with a number of black linear markings; vertex with a transverse, narrow, black fascia between the eyes, and with a central black spot containing the ocelli. Pronotum greenish-ochraceous, the disk with the following black markings: — a central I-shaped spot, on each side of which are some oblique linear markings; the lateral dilated margins are black, and the anterior margin is narrow — and the posterior margin broadly— dull reddish ochraceous. Mesonotum greenish-ochraceous, with the following black spots: — four obconical from anterior margin, of which the central two are smallest; and a large, oblong, discal spot, with a small partly rounded spot on each side of it; the basal cruciform elevation dull reddish ochraceous. Abdomen above black. Head beneath, with the face black, marked with luteous transverse lines; sternum somewhat ochraceously pilose; abdomen beneath black, the segmental margins ochraceous, the anal appendage of the same color; legs castaneous, streaked or spotted with piceous and luteous. Rostrum black, the basal portion luteous.

Tegmina pale hyaline, with the venation brown, the costal membrane greenish, the basal third somewhat opaque, with darker transverse markings and small basal black markings; a double irregular series of dark brown spots cross the tegmina at about center, a dark brown fascia at bases of upper apical areas, a few small subapical spots and some small marginal spots of the same color. Wings brownish-ochraceous, paler at apex than at base and very pale across the center, with a white marginal spot near anal angle; the venation brown.

The rostrum reaches the basal abdominal segment; the lateral margins of the pronotum are distinctly angulated; the face is robustly gibbous, with a profound central longitudinal sulcation; the posterior tibijE have three distinct spines on each side of apical half.

Long. excl. tegm. 2 . 23 millim. Exp. tegm. 70 millim. ; exp. pronot. angl. 13 millim.

Hab. — Continental India : Neelgiri Hills, northern slopes, 3500 & 5000 feet (Hampson — coll. Dist.).

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura hampsoni (Distant, 1887)

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

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March 21, 2019

Platypleura mira Distant, 1904

Platypleura mira is a cicada found in Cambodia, Laos, Malasia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Platypleura mira

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura mira Distant, 1904

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March 11, 2019

Platypleura capitata (Olivier, 1790)

Platypleura capitata is a cicada found in Sri Lanka and India.

Photos by Raghu Ananth, taken near Mysore, India:
Platypleura capitata by Raghu Ananth, taken near Mysore, India:

Platypleura capitata by Raghu Ananth, taken near Mysore, India:

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura capitata (Olivier, 1790)

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

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January 22, 2019

Platypleura coelebs Stål, 1863

Platypleura coelebs Stål, 1863, is a cicada found in India and China.

Platypleura coelebs was formerly known as Poecilopsaltria coelebs.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura coelebs Stål, 1863

Platypleura coelebs Stål, 1863

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

Head ochraceous; front, excluding a central spot, margins of vertex between front and eyes, and a transverse fascia between the eyes black; pronotum pale castaneous, the posterior and lateral margins ochraceous; mesonotum castaneous, with four large obconical black spots on anterior margin, the central two smallest, a central discal elongate black spot and a small black spot in front of each anterior angle of the basal cruciform elevation; abdomen black, the tympanal coverings, and the posterior segmental margins ochraceous. Head beneath, sternum, legs, rostrum and opercula ochraceous; a transverse fascia between the eyes — enclosing a pale spot on face — inner margins of eyes, posterior margin of face and apex of rostrum black: abdomen beneath castaneous, with the posterior segmental margins and the apes ochraceous.

Tegmina with about the basal half creamy opaque shaded with pale fuscous, and more or less outwardly defined by an indistinct curved pale fuscous fascia, remaining area hyaline, costal membrane and venation dark ochraceous, the transverse veins at the bases of the second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh apical areas slightly infuscated; wings stramineous for about two-thirds their area from base, this coloration outwardly margined with fuscous, remaining area pale hyaline, the venation dark ochraceous.

The rostrum extends a little beyond the inner angles of the opercula, which are somewhat well separated.

Long. excl. tegm. 22 to 23 millim. Exp. tegm. 64 to 68 millim. Exp. pronot. angl. 11 millim.

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 name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

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November 17, 2018

Hamza ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758)

Filed under: Carl Linnaeus | Genera Insectorum | Hamza | Indonesia | Platypleurini — Dan @ 1:01 am

Hamza ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758) is found in south-east Asia, specifically Indonesia.

Hamza ciliaris has many synonyms / former names, and Hamza bouruensis, as seen in the image below, is one of them.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Hamza
Species: Hamza ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hamza ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hamza genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Body short, broad; head including eyes about as wide’ as the anterior margin of the mesonotum; ocelli placed nearer to each other than to eyes; pronotum with the lateral margins ampliated, obtusely angulated near middle; anterior femora distinctly tuberculately spined; metasternum slightly elevated, broadly centrally sulcate and sinuately truncated; tympana only about half covered by the dilated and expanded lateral areas of the basal abdominal segment; opercula short, broad, their apices convexly rounded; tegmina about three times as long as broad, the basal cell broad, with at least four angles, ulnar veins widely separated at their bases.

References:

The illustration and description 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.
Species name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
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

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October 22, 2018

Tugelana butleri Distant, 1912

Filed under: Genera Insectorum | Platypleurini | South Africa | Tugelana | W. L. Distant — Dan @ 1:01 am

Tugelana butleri Distant, 1912, is found in South Africa.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Tugelana
Species: Tugelana butleri Distant, 1912

Tugelana genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Head short and broad, including eyes about as broad as base of mesonotum, between eyes three times as broad as long, ocelli farther apart from eyes than from each other, eyes obliquely directed backward; face a little longer than broad, very broadly longitudinally sulcate. lateral areas transversely striate ; pronotum almost as long as mesonotum, the lateral margins roundly ampliate, twice as broad at base as long, the fissures profound, anterior margin truncate, posterior margin very slightly sinuate at middle; abdomen in male about as long as space between the apex of head and base of cruciform elevation; tympana partly exposed, the coverings being a little shorter and considerably narrower inwardly; rostrum reaching the posterior cocÅ“; opercula in male scarcely extending beyond base of abdomen, not meeting inwardly, obliquely transverse, laterally and apically rounded; anterior femora incrassated, with two short but broad teeth at apex; tegmina more than twice as long as broad, opaque, basal cell slightly longer than broad, ulnar areas moderately elongate, apical areas eight, the uppermost long’and narrow; wings a little more than half the length of tegmina, apical areas six. This is one of the few Ethiopian genera belonging to the subfamily Gseaninas, and may be placed near the genus Hamza; like that genus, apart from the tympanal structural characters, it has a superficial resemblance to the genus Platypleura.

References:

The illustration and description 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.
Species name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

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