September 16, 2021

New tribe Ayuthiini

The paper The molecular systematics and diversification of a taxonomically unstable group of Asian cicada tribes related to Cicadini Latreille, 1802 (Hemiptera:Cicadidae)¹ has introduced a new tribe Ayuthiini, replacing Tosenini for two genera of cicadas: Distantalna and Ayuthia.

New Tribe Ayuthiina

¹ 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. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS20079

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August 15, 2021

A cicada… in England?!

Filed under: England | Tibicina — Dan @ 2:14 pm

A few years back a project was launched to discover if the New Forest cicada (Cicadetta montana) still exists in England. It once existed in southern England for sure, but seems to have gone extinct. To date, none have been found.

Recently a cicada was reported found in England on iNaturalist, appearing to belong to the genus Tibicina. The best resource for European cicadas is SONGS OF EUROPEAN SINGING CICADAS. Looking at the navigation of the website it looks like there are nine Tibicina in Europe (maybe more). The cicada on iNaturalist is brown with orange highlights: u-shaped marks on its mesonotum, an orange outline of its pronotal collar, and an orange line down the middle of its head. Wing veins appear brown & black and appear to be warped during the molting process. It might be teneral — still soft from the molting process — and so its adult colors have not fully developed.

So — is it a native to England or a stowaway in some cargo from mainland Europe?

The Twitter account @MorphoCicada posted this on Twitter, which alerted me to the matter.

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July 15, 2021

Hieroglyphic cicada locations in New Jersey

Filed under: Megatibicen | Neocicada — Tags: M. auletes, N. hieroglyphica hieroglyphica — Dan @ 6:56 am

Hieroglyphic cicadas (Neocicada hieroglyphica aka Hieroglyphic Cicada) are present in most of southern New Jersey, particularly the Pine Barrens area which has sandy soil (pure sand in a lot of places) and many pine and oak trees. This area is historically prone to fires because of the dry sandy soil and sappy pines. The fact that at least some Hieroglyphic cicadas appear every year and spend many years underground probably helps them circumvent minor fires.

Here’s a photo of a Hieroglyphic and Northern Dusk-Singing Cicada exuvia (shed skin). Quite a difference! Brendan T. Byrne State Forest.
Auletes and Hieroglyphic

Some Locations:

Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. Website. This is the best location I’ve found. Pine & oak forests with huckleberry undergrowth. Sandy soil. A good place to record and study their calls, as there is minimal interference from the general public. Exuvia of Hieroglyphic, Northern Dusk-Singing Cicada, and Neotibicen cicadas were easily found. Hieroglyphic Cicada choruses were very loud in the middle of the month (7/10-15), but by 7/31 very few were audible — look for them in late June, or early July.
1900 NJ-70, Manchester Township, NJ. This is a strip mall with a good pizza restaurant (Pop’s), a bar, and a breakfast restaurant. The mall is surrounded by pines and oaks and is a good place for hearing Hieroglyphic and Northern Dusk-Singing Cicadas, as well as some Neotibicen.
1936 Wildland Firefighter Memorial. 151-195 Greenbush Rd. Little Egg Harbor Twp, NJ. An interesting park that features the ruins of some buildings, and the typical combination of sandy soil, pine, oak, and huckleberry. Hieroglyphic cicadas were heard calling on pine trees. I believe this location is within Bass River State Forest.
Batso Village. Website. 31 Batsto Rd, Hammonton, NJ 08037. Batso Village is a large recreation of the Batso Village which produced iron and glass in the 18th century. It offers 3 or 4 trails that feature groves of pine trees inhabited by Hieroglyphic cicadas.
Franklin Parker Preserve. Website. Chatsworth Lake Entrance, 1450 County Rd 532, Chatsworth, NJ 08019. Some blackjack oak and sassafrass, but the forest is mostly pine. Hieroglyphic cicadas are present and audible. The exuvia of small Neotibicen were present, and either N. canicularis or N. davisi are audible (I wouldn’t tell which).

All these areas are heavily infested with ticks, deer flies, and in some cases, mosquitos. Take precaution.

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July 12, 2021

A new genus Vittagaeana and a new Cicada paper to go with it

Filed under: Gaeanini | Maurice Noualhier | Papers and Documents | Vittagaeana — Dan @ 12:51 pm

Recently a new paper was published with the authors Kathy B. R. Hill, David C. Marshall, Kiran Marathe, Maxwell S. Moulds, Young June Lee, Thai-Hong Pham, Alma B. Mohagan, Vivek Sarkar, Benjamin W. Price, J. P. Duffels, Marieke A. Schouten, Arnold J. de Boer, Krushnamegh Kunte and Chris Simon titled The molecular systematics and diversification of a taxonomically unstable group of Asian cicada tribes related to Cicadini Latreille, 1802 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in Invertebrate Systematics, 2021, 35, 570—601. Link to the paper.

Here’s the abstract:

Abstract. The cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) related to tribe Cicadini exhibit some of the most remarkable phenotypes in the family, with many genera possessing striking colour patterns and unusual morphological features. This largely Asian group of 13 tribes has proven challenging for cicada taxonomists, in part because of likely convergent evolution or losses of these phenotypes. We present the first focused molecular phylogeny of this clade, including ~60 described genera. The genetic dataset contains 839 ingroup-informative sites (out of 2575) from mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, nuclear elongation factor-1 a, and nuclear acetyltransferase. We use Bayesian and maximum likelihood trees to test recent changes in tribe- and subtribe-level classification, and we reconstruct ancestral character states for potentially convergent traits influencing tribe descriptions. We use fossil and molecular clock calibrations to estimate the temporal and geographic context of the radiation. The tribes Gaeanini, Leptopsaltriini, Platypleurini, Psithyristriini, and Tosenini appear polyphyletic and in need of revision, in part because of convergent evolution of opaque wings and multiple convergent gains or losses of abdominal tubercles. Kalabita Moulton, 1923 is transferred from Platypleurini to Leptopsaltriini. Vittagaeana gen. nov. is established for Vittagaeana paviei comb. nov. and Vittagaeana dives comb. nov., formerly in Tosena. Sinosenini syn. nov. is synonymised with

As part of the paper, we get a new genus, Vittagaeana, made up of two cicadas formerly belonging to the genus Tosena. They were likely placed under Tosena because of the white line on their forewings, but after a review of genetics and other features, they have been given their own genus. They are closely related to the genera Ambragaeana, Callogaeana, Gaeana, Sulphogaeana and Trengganua. Also similar to Balinta, Paratalainga, and Talainga.

Vittagaeana dives (Westwood, 1842), formerly Tosena dives:
Tosena dives (Westwood, 1842)
More info: Vittagaeana dives (Westwood, 1842)