Categories
Brood XXII Chris Simon Gene Kritsky John Cooley Magicicada Papers and Documents Periodical Roy Troutman

New paper about Brood XXII Magicicadas

There is a new paper out about Brood XXII, titled Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada). I helped with the field work for this paper, traveling through Ohio and Kentucky with Roy Troutman, recording the locations of periodical cicadas.

Brood XXII, a brood of Magicicada periodical cicadas with a 13-year lifecycle, exists in Louisiana & Mississippi, and Ohio & Kentucky with no geographic connection between them (the two groups are geographically isolated). The paper discusses the similarities and differences between the two groups.

You can read and download the paper for free.

Citation for the paper:
Gene Kritsky, Roy Troutman, Dan Mozgai, Chris Simon, Stephen M Chiswell, Satoshi Kakishima, Teiji Sota, Jin Yoshimura, John R Cooley; Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada), American Entomologist, Volume 63, Issue 4, 12 December 2017, Pages E15—E20, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmx066

Categories
Cicada Mania

Looking forward to 2018

2018

At the start of 2018 Australia has been having an awesome cicada season, which should continue through to March, depending on the species and part of the country.

The best months of the cicada season in New Zealand are December – April.

Throughout the world, annual cicada emergences will follow their usual cycles.

Periodical Cicada Emergences

The World Cup Cicada, Chremistica ribhoi, will return after 4 years in Meghalaya, India.

Magicicada cicadas will return in 2018 in New York State after 17 years. Brood VII aka the Onondaga Brood can be found in the Finger Lakes area of New York.

Magicicada stragglers should also make an appearance in limited numbers.

  • Brood XXII stragglers, emerging 4 years late, in mid-east Louisiana, south-west Mississippi, south-west Ohio and north-central Kentucky.
  • Brood VIII stragglers, emerging 1 year early, in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and the West Virginia pan handle.
Categories
Papers and Documents

Cicada Papers of 2017

At almost 40 papers were published in 2017 about cicadas (maybe more)! If I had the time, I’d write a post about each one.

Here’s the list of papers I know about, including links to the papers. See the paper for authors and journal.

  1. Acoustic repertoire of the singing cicada Cicadetta cantilatrix Sueur et Puissant, 2007 (Homoptera, Cicadidae) from Russia. Link to the paper.
  2. Bacterial diversity of bacteriomes and organs of reproductive, digestive and excretory systems in two cicada species (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Link to the paper.
  3. Caledopsalta gen. nov., a new genus for the New Caledonian cicadas previously assigned to Pauropsalta Goding & Froggatt, plus the description of four new species (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae): Caledopsalta , a new genus of cicada. Link to the paper.
  4. Classificação Digital de Cicadidae com Wavelets e Support Vector Machines. Link to the paper.
  5. Comparative morphology of ovipositor in cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), with considerations on their taxonomic significance. Link to the paper.
  6. Description of four new genera and five new species of cicadas from New Caledonia (Insecta: Hemiptera, Cicadoidea, Cicadidae). Link to the paper.
  7. Descriptions of four new species of Semia Matsumura (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Psithyristriini) from Vietnam, with a key to the species of Semia. Link to the paper.
  8. Five new species of grass cicadas in the genus Graminitigrina (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettinae: Cicadettini) from Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia: comparative morphology, songs, behaviour and distributions. Link to the paper.
  9. Generic redescription, seven new species and a key to the Taphura Stål, 1862 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadetttinae: Taphurini). Link to the paper.
  10. Giant Cicada Emergence, Protandry and Chorus Centers Formation as Revealed by Studies Using a Sound Trap. Link to the paper.
  11. La cigale grise Cicada orni Linnaeus, 1758, une espèce récente dans le canton de Genève (Hemiptera, Cicadidae). Link to the paper.
  12. Morphological variation, genetic differentiation and phylogeography of the East Asia cicada Hyalessa maculaticollis (Hemiptera: Cicadidae): Phylogeography of H. maculaticollis. Link to the paper.
  13. Multiple origins of interdependent endosymbiotic complexes in a genus of cicadas. Link to the paper.
  14. A new cicada species of Psalmocharias Kirkaldy feeding on an Ephedra plant from China (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Link to the paper…
  15. A new genus and new species of Cicadettini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettinae) from Pakistan. Link to the paper…
  16. A new genus for North American Cicadetta species (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Link to the paper.
  17. A new Neotibicen cicada subspecies (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from the southeastern USA forms hybrid zones with a widespread relative despite a divergent male calling song. Link to the paper.
  18. A New Species of Carineta Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843 (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) from Martinique. Link to the paper.
  19. A new species of Cicadatra Kolenati, 1857 from China, with primary phylogenetic analyses of the tribe Cicadatrini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Link to the paper.
  20. A new species of Megatibicen endemic to Mescalero-Monahans shinnery sands (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadidae). Link to the paper.
  21. A new species of Platypleura Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae) from the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India. Link to the paper.
  22. Popplepsalta aeroides Owen & Moulds (Hemiptera: Cicadidae): Description of the female. Link to the paper.
  23. Priority and synonymy of some North American cicada genera (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae: Cryptotympanini). Link to the paper.
  24. Quaternary vicariance of Platypleura (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in Japan, Ryukyu, and Taiwan Islands. Link to the paper.
  25. Replacement name for the cicada genus Torresia Sanborn and Heath, 2014 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Tibicininae: Tettigadini) and two new combinations. Link to the paper.
  26. Resurrection of Auritibicen shikokuanus (Kato, 1959) stat. rev. & comb. nov. (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cryptotympanini) from Ehime and Hiroshima of Japan. Link to the paper.
  27. Review of the cicada genus Paharia Distant (Hemiptera, Cicadidae), with the description of a new species and its allied species. Link to the paper.
  28. A revision of the Ewartia oldfieldi (Distant) species complex (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettinae) with five new species from eastern and northern Australia. Link to the paper.
  29. A revision of the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species group (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettini) with 14 new species from mainland Australia. Link to the paper.
  30. Revision and resurrection of the genus name Mezammira Fieber, 1876 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with special focus on its species from Greece and the description of two new species. Link to the paper.
  31. Seven new species of the cicada genus Guyalna Boulard & Martinelli, 1996 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Fidicinini) with a re-description of the type species . Link to the paper.
  32. The confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic estimation in the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia. Link to the paper.
  33. The pregenital abdomen of Enicocephalomorpha and morphological evidence for different modes of communication at the dawn of heteropteran evolution. Link to the paper.
  34. Thermal adaptation in North American cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Link to the paper.
  35. A 3-Year Survey of Oklahoma Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) with New State Records. Link to the paper.
  36. Two new species of Clinopsalta Moulds (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) and additional distribution records for Clinopsalta adelaida (Ashton), with notes on their distinctive calling songs. Link to the paper.
Categories
David Emery Pham Thai Psithyristriini Semia Vietnam Young June Lee

Four new species of Semia from Vietnam

Four new species of Semia cicadas living in Vietnam were described in 2017: Semia magna, Semia spiritus, Semia pallida, and Semia albusequi.

Here’s the details on the paper:

Title: Descriptions of four new species of Semia Matsumura (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Psithyristriini) from Vietnam, with a key to the species of Semia
Authors: David Emery, Young June Lee, & Thai Pham.
Year: 2017
Publication: Zootaxa. 4216. 153-166.
Document link: https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4216.2.2
Abstract:

This paper provides descriptions of four new species of the genus Semia Matsumura, 1917 from Vietnam: Semia magna sp. nov., Semia spiritus sp. nov., Semia pallida sp. nov., and Semia albusequi sp. nov. A key to the 13 species of Semia is provided.

Categories
Chremistica India Periodical Sudhanya Hajong Tacuini (Cryptotympanini)

The World Cup Cicada, Chremistica ribhoi

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.

Categories
Papers and Documents Robert L. Sanders U.S.A.

A 3-Year Survey of Oklahoma’s 41 Cicadas

Cicada researcher Robert L. Sanders has written a paper documenting a 3-Year survey of Oklahoma cicadas. The paper is appropriately titled “A 3-Year Survey of Oklahoma Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) with New State Records” and was published in Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 89(4):315-337. Access it via this link.

The number of cicadas identified living in Oklahoma has been raised to 41. The previous number, as documented in the works of Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips, was 341.

Here’s the abstract of Robert’s paper:

ABSTRACT: Between September of 2013 and September of 2016 an intermittent survey of the cicada diversity and distribution in Oklahoma was conducted. The results of this survey are presented here as a current updated annotated checklist. Seven species in four genera are newly recorded as resident in Oklahoma: Diceroprocta texana (Davis, 1916), Megatibicen figuratus (Walker, 1858), Neotibicen davisi harnedi (Davis, 1918), Neotibicen linnei (Smith & Grossbeck, 1907), Neotibicen robinsonianus (Davis, 1922), Okanagana viridis Davis, 1918, and Pacarina shoemakeri Sanborn and Heath, 2012. This brings the total number of species inhabiting the state to 41. Discussed are seven additional species possibly occurring in the state and Oklahoma’s cicada diversity.

1 Sanborn Allen F. Phillips, Polly K. (2014). Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico. Diversity 2013, 5, 166-239; doi:10.3390/d5020166

Categories
Chris Simon Kikihia New Zealand Papers and Documents

A new paper about Kikihia hybridization

There’s a new paper from Sarah E. Banker, Elizabeth J. Wade, and Chris Simon titled “The confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic estimation in the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia”.

Here are the highlights:

  • Tested validity of an unexpected “Westlandica” mitochondrial clade with nuclear loci.
  • Phylogenetic signal and pattern differ dramatically among nuclear genes but always weak on South Island.
  • No conflict between nuclear concatenation vs species trees from multiple methods.
  • Three nuclear species trees support major North Island but not South Island mitochondrial clades.

Here’s the citation information:

Sarah E. Banker, Elizabeth J. Wade, Chris Simon, The confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic estimation in the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 116, November 2017, Pages 172-181, ISSN 1055-7903, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.08.009.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790317302348)

Categories
Allen F. Sanborn Behavior James Edward Heath Maxine E. Heath Papers and Documents Polly K. Phillips

New paper: thermal adaptation in North American cicadas

Temperature plays an important part in much of cicada behavior, such as determining when they emerge from the ground, and when they are active above ground.

There’s a new paper out from Allen F.Sanborn, James E.Heath, Maxine S.Heath and Polly K.Phillips titled “Thermal adaptation in North American cicadas”.

Here are the highlights:

  • Thermal responses are related specific environments of North America cicadas.
  • Thermoregulatory strategy can influence thermal responses in sympatric species.
  • Emergence time can influence thermal responses in sympatric species.
  • Subspecies in general do not differ in their thermal responses.
  • Thermal responses within a species do not differ in populations separated by more than 7600 km.

And here’s the citation info (even though I’m not citing anything):


Allen F. Sanborn, James E. Heath, Maxine S. Heath, Polly K. Phillips, Thermal adaptation in North American cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), In Journal of Thermal Biology, Volume 69, 2017, Pages v-xviii, ISSN 0306-4565, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.07.011.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030645651730181X)

Categories
Fiji Periodical Raiateana Tacuini (Cryptotympanini)

Fiji 8-year periodical Nanai aka Raiateana knowlesi

Fiji $100 note

This cicada will next emerge in 2025.

Update (11/4/2017): from Facebook, it looks like folks are finding them. Here’s an image.

Update (9/13/2017): the Nanai have begun to emerge! This cicada last emerged in 2009 in Nadroga-Navosa and Serua Provinces, and now again emerge in 2017. People in Fuji will be able to report sightings to nanai-tracker.herokuapp.com.

Notes from Chris Simon:

Early this morning I got the first Reports of the 8-year periodical Nanai emerging in Navosa, Fiji! Some people in that area had them for dinner.

This confirms earlier reports of the eight-year periodicity. There was some uncertainty because the original specimens were dated (1906) a year later than they would be if on the current 8-year schedule.

Duffels and Ewart (1988, The Cicadas of the Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga Islands, their taxonomy and Biogeograohy) noted that “Until recently the present species is only known from three males collected in “Fijii” in 1906 by C. Knowles.” Duffels was not able to describe them when he first saw the specimens because they were missing the male genitalia. After obtaining, “a series of females and two males” from Dick Watling and Andrew Laurie in 1986, Duffels was able to assign it to the genus Raiateana. There is one other species of Raiateana in Fiji, R. kuruduadua (two subspecies in Fiji and one in Samoa) but it is not periodical as far as we know.

You might be familiar with American periodical cicadas (Magicicada) and the World-cup synchronized Chremistica ribhoi of India, but Fiji has a periodical cicada too: the 8-year periodical Nanai cicada aka Raiateana knowlesi.

It also appears on Fiji’s $100 note.

There’s even a local legend about the cicada.

More information:

Thanks to Chris Simon of the University of Connecticut for this information.

More shots of the Fiji $100 note and the folder it comes in:

Fiji $100 note

Fiji $100 note

Categories
Australia L. W. Popple Myopsalta

14 new species of grassland, woodland & scrubland Myopsalta cicadas

Lindsay Popple published a new paper describing 14 new species of grassland, woodland & scrubland Myopsalta cicadas. Download it from Zootaxa.

Here are the particulars:

Volume: Zootaxa 4340 (1): 001—098; 2017.
Title: A revision of the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species group (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettini) with 14 new species from mainland Australia
Author: LINDSAY W. POPPLE

Abstract:

The genus Myopsalta Moulds is distributed throughout much of Australia. Previous studies have associated several undescribed species with the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species complex. The present study informally divides the cicadas in the genus Myopsalta into two species groups. It provides a revision of the M. crucifera species group, which includes redescriptions of M. crucifera s. str. and M. mackinlayi (Distant). The identity of the latter species is further refined and attributed to material formerly presented under the name Myopsalta atrata (Goding & Froggatt). In addition to the redescriptions, 14 new species belonging to the M. crucifera species group are described, including M. albiventris n. sp., M. bassiana n. sp., M. chrysopedia n. sp., M. gordoni n. sp., M. leona n. sp., M. longicauda n. sp., M. majurae n. sp., M. melanobasis n. sp., M. parvula n. sp., M. platyptera n. sp., M. riverina n. sp., M. septa n. sp., M. umbra n. sp. and M. xerograsidia n. sp. A key to species in the genus Myopsalta is provided. Standard morphological descriptions and descriptions of calling songs unique to each species are included along with a discussion on different song types in the M. crucifera species group.

And the announcement from Twitter:

Visit Lindsay’s cicada website.