Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.
Platypleura mira is a cicada found in Cambodia, Laos, Malasia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura mira Distant, 1904
Orientopsaltria beaudouini is a cicada found in Malasia and Thailand.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Dundubiini
SubTribe: Orientopsaltriina
Genus: Orientopsaltria
Species: Orientopsaltria beaudouini Boulard, 2003
Trengganua sibylla (Stål, 1863) is a cicada found in south-east Asia, specifically peninsular Malaysia and Thailand.
When found in the wild & alive its wings are green and black, but the green turns yellow after death.
Here’s a video of a living T. sibylla.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Gaeanini
Genus: Trengganua
Species: Trengganua sibylla (Stål, 1863)
Megapomponia intermedia is a cicada found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Note: the image reads Pomponia intermedia, but since the time the photograph was taken the name of the cicada has changed to Megapomponia intermedia.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Dundubiini
SubTribe: Megapomponiina
Genus: Megapomponia
Species: Megapomponia intermedia (Distant, 1905)
Megapomponia imperatoria is a cicada found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, and Thailand. This is the largest cicada in the world
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Note: the photo reads “Pomponia imperatoria”, but since the time of the photograph the name of the cicada has changed.
Description 1:
Body above brownish-ochraceous, in some specimens castaneous. Head with a central longitudinal spot to the front, the area of the ocelli, a transverse spot behind eyes, and a spot at anterior angles of vertex, black. Pronotiim with two central longitudinal linear fasciae not extending beyond center — a central spot at the posterior margin — and the furrows black; posterior margin greenish, with two black spots on each side. Mesonotum with two obconical central spots, from the junction of which a longitudinal fascia extends to posterior margin, four spots in transverse series at the base, a spot on each lateral discal area, and sometimes some small spots at anterior margin black. Abdomen with the posterior margins of the abdominal segments narrowly black. Body beneath and legs brownish-ochraceous; transverse striations and the apex of the face, anterior tibiae, bases, and apical thirds of the intermediate tibiae, anterior and intermediate tarsi and the apex of the rostrum, black.
Tegmina and wings pale hyaline, the venation ochraceous. Tegmina with the costal membrane and basal cell brownish or ochraceous, the claval area ochraceous or sanguineous; the transverse veins at the bases of the second, third, fifth, and seventh apical areas infuscated and a series of fuscous marginal spots at the apices of the longitudinal veins to apical areas. Wings with the base of claval area ochraceous or sanguineous; outer margin of claval area ochraceous.
Long. excl. tegm. Male 46 to 68 millim. ; Female 41 to GO millim. Exp. tegm. Male 137 to 180 millim. ; Female, 145 to 216 millim.
This is a most variable species, both as regards size and markings. The largest specimen I have yet seen is a female in my o\vn collection from Perak, whose tegmina reach an expansion of 216 millim. In some of the smaller specimens, the body is darker, and the markings to same and the spotting of the tegmina very indistinct. There almost seem to be two races of this species, one very much smaller and somewhat less prominently marked than the other.
As I have elsewhere recorded, I captured this fine species myself, not infrequently, when sojourning in the Malay Peninsula. It often frequented the dining-room, and on holding it between the fingers its stridulation caused a thrill through the nerves of the arm.*
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Dundubiini
SubTribe: Megapomponiina
Genus: Megapomponia
Species: Megapomponia imperatoria (Westwood, 1842)
Lyristes plebejus is a cicada found in most of Europe and middle-eastern Asia. There is an ongoing debate over its genus. Some say Lyristes, and some say Tibicen. I don’t have an opinion on the matter, but most folks in Europe say Lyristes plebejus, so I’m leading with that name.
Photo of an adult Lyristes plebejus by Iván Jesus Torresano García:
Photo of a molting Lyristes plebejus by Iván Jesus Torresano García:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Lyristes or Tibicen
Species: Lyristes plebejus (Scopoli 1763) or Tibicen plebejus (Scopoli 1763)
According to iNaturalist this cicada is around between June and August. Peak in July.
View more photos of this cicada. Most photos by Iván Jesus Torresano García. There’s nearly 100.
For more information about this cicada, visit SONGS OF EUROPEAN SINGING CICADAS.
Majeorona aper (Walker, 1850) is a cicada found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Panama, and likely adjacent nations.
Photo by Leonardo Milhomem:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Fidicinini
SubTribe: Guyalnina
Genus: Majeorona
Species: Majeorona aper (Walker, 1850)
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)
Pomponia dolosa is a cicada found in Thailand and Vietnam.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cicadini
SubTribe: Psithyristriina
Genus: Pomponia
Species: Pomponia dolosa Boulard, 2001
Pomponia linearis is a cicada found in India.
Photo by Raghu Ananth taken in Bhagamandala, Coorg, India:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cicadini
SubTribe: Psithyristriina
Genus: Pomponia
Species: Pomponia linearis (Walker, 1850)
For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.
Yasumasa Saisho of the Cicadae in Japan website left a note on Facebook about this cicada:
Pomponia linearis is currently considered to contain several species (complex), for example, the population of Taiwan and Japan has been changed to Pomponia yayeyamana. See Duffels and Hayashi (2006) Tijd. Entomol., 149, 189-201.
I’m putting this at the end. It is a description of Pomponia fusca which back in the 1800s was a “synonym” of Pomponia linearis, from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website:
Head, pronotum, and mesonotum are greenish-ochraceous. Head with the anterior margins of the front, an irregular central fascia to vertex enclosing the ocelli, a large spot on the inner side of eyes, and the anterior lateral angle of vertex, dark olivaceous. Pronotum with a broad central longitudinal fascia, two large oblique spots on each lateral area, and a spot on the lateral margin, brownish-olivaceous. Mesonotum with seven brownish-olivaceous spots; situate two central and obconical, between which is an arrow-shaped discal spot, a small spot on each side of the two central ones, and a long spot on each lateral area, two small spots of the same color in front of each anterior angle of the basal cruciform elevation. Abdomen pale castaneous with ochraceous pilosity. Head beneath, sternum, legs, and opercula pale greenish ; upper and apical areas of face, a spot between face and eyes, posterior margins of eyes, anterior tibiae, apices of intermediate tibiae, a spot near apices of femora, apices of anterior and intermediate tarsi, apex of rostrum, and a triangular spot between the intermediate and posterior coxae, dark fuscous. Abdomen beneath dark ochraceous.
Tegmina and wings pale hyaline ; tegmina with the costal membrane greenish, transverse veins at the bases of the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth apical areas infuscated, and a marginal series of small fuscous spots situate at the apices of the longitudinal veins to apical areas; the venation is otherwise ochraceous, sometimes replaced by black; basal cell and claval margin brownish-ochraceous.
Wings with the venation brownish-ochraceous; claval margin darker in hue.
Long. excl. tegm.
