Tag: N. davisi davisi

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Audio, Sounds, Songs Neotibicen Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) U.S.A. William T. Davis

Neotibicen davisi aka Davis’ Southeastern Dog-Day Cicada

Neotibicen davisi aka Davis’ Southeastern Dog-Day Cicada.

There are two sub-species of Neotibicen davisi, and it makes sense to discuss both on the name page.

  • Neotibicen davisi davisi (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907). Quick ID: it has black on its abdomen.
  • Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918. Quick ID: it lacks the black on the abdomen, and is only found in Arkansas and Mississippi.

In this photo, N. davisi hardeni is on the left, and N. davisi davisi is on the right:
Krombholz Davisi compared
Photo by Paul Krombholz.

See all davisi davisi and davisi hardeni images & info on cicadamania.com.

Songs:


“Probably Tibicen davisi harnedi”. Source: ©Insect Singers.


Neotibicen davisi davisi. Source: ©Insect Singers.

Identification keys by Wm. T. Davis from MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. 1

A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.

B. Uncus longer than broad. Black species with green or greenish markings and black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, except in sayi, and new variety of davisi.

C. Hind margin of pronotum or collar, green or greenish.

Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918:

Abdomen greenish centrally on under side, blackened area
wanting, marginal cells of fore wings clouded.
davisi var. harnedi new variety.

Neotibicen davisi davisi (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907):

An irregular band of black on the under side of the abdomen, head rounded in front ; a rather small species.
davisi (Smith & Grossbeck).

Description of Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918 1:

Tibicen davisi var. harnedi new variety, PI. VII, fig. 4.

Type male, Helena, Arkansas, June, 19 16 (K. D. Jacob). Davis
collection.

Allotype female, Rodney, Jefferson Co., Miss.. August, 1917 (O.
A. Hammett). Collection, Miss. Agri. and Mechanical College.

More robust than typical davisi, with broader wings, the first seven marginal cells of the fore wings being clouded much as in Tibicen superba Fitch. The dorsal markings are quite green in color, the central, green, wedge-shaped mark on the pronotum is not sepa- rated from the hind margin, but is confluent with it; the collar is bright green. The dorsal surface is less rusty in appearance than in typical davisi. Beneath the abdomen is greenish, without the “narrow black portion in the center,” as in typical davisi.

Location and song notes 1:

davisi occurs throughout the southeastern states as far north as New Jersey. Its song- is a continuous z-ing of short duration, and is sharper in tone, though not as loud as that produced by the larger, related black species.

Video Playlist

Playlists contain multiple videos found on YouTube.

Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918 Name, Location and Description

  • Cicada Name: Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918
  • Short Name: N. davisi hardeni
  • Common Name: Davis’ Southeastern Dog-Day Cicada
  • Synonym/Former Name: Tibicen davisi hardeni
  • When: August-October. Peaks in September.
  • Where it is found: AR, MS
  • Maps: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico [PDF]
  • Description: The davisi comes in a wide variety of colors: from rusty browns to greens. N. davisi hardeni lacking black stripe on abdomen, with green instead. A crown-like pattern on the mesonotum. Sounds like an angle grinder tool, & sounds like N. auriferus & N. canicularis.
  • Eye Color: varies
  • Pronotal Collar Color: brown or green
  • Identification: Bug Guide
  • Identification: iNaturalist
  • Taxonomic Information: Integrated Taxonomic Information System
  • Songs: Insect Singers

Neotibicen davisi davisi (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907) Name, Location and Description

  • Cicada Name: Neotibicen davisi davisi (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907)
  • Short Name: N. davisi davisi
  • Common Name: Davis’ Southeastern Dog-Day Cicada
  • Synonym/Former Name: Tibicen davisi davisi
  • When: August-December. Peaks in September.
  • Where it is found: AL, DE, DC, FL, GA, LA, MD, MA, MS, NJ, NY, NC, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
  • Maps: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico [PDF]
  • Description: The davisi comes in a wide variety of colors: from rusty browns to greens. N. davisi davisi has black on abdomen. A crown-like pattern on the mesonotum. Sounds like an angle grinder tool, & sounds like N. auriferus & N. canicularis.
  • Eye Color: varies
  • Pronotal Collar Color: brown or green
  • Identification: Bug Guide
  • Identification: iNaturalist
  • Taxonomic Information: Integrated Taxonomic Information System
  • Songs: Insect Singers

Teneral (soft) and sclerotized (hard) N. davisi

Neotibicen davisi
Photo by Paul Krombholz.

Classification:

Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
Subtribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Neotibicen
Species: Neotibicen davis
Sub-species: Neotibicen davisi davisi (Smith & Grossbeck, 1907)
Sub-species: Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918

List of sources

  1. (1) Davis, W.T. 1918. MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. XXVI, Nos. 3-4. Read it on archive.org.
  2. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  3. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  4. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  5. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.

Notes:

  • Some descriptions are based on aged specimens which have lost some or a lot of their color.
Categories
Annual Neotibicen

Neotibicen canicularis – Dog Star Rising

Mid-August is approaching, and the “Dog Days” of summer are almost here. Sirius (the Dog Star) and the constellation Canis Major will soon begin to appear in the early morning sky. Now is also the time that Tibicen canicularis, the Dog Day Day cicada, is also making its presence known in the U.S.A.

Edit: Dog-day cicadas (Neotibicen) are named for the time of year when the Dog-start Sirius first appears in the sky. Depending on where you are in the U.S., latitudinally speaking, Sirius should enter the pre-dawn sky between July 29th (Key West, FL) and August 15th (Bangor Maine) give or take a day.

This is a photo of a N. canicularis (Dog Day cicada) next to a T. davisi (Southern Dog Day cicada) by by Paul Krombholz:
Neotibicen davisi & canicularis by Paul Krombholz

N. canicularis has a green pronotal collar, green markings on its pronotum, and at least some, if not all, orange colors on its mesonotum (where the M is on the cicada’s back). N. canicularis sounds like (to me at least) a circular saw buzzing through a plank in wood in a neighbor’s garage.

Imagine that you are a farmer waking just before dawn and seeing the first signs of Sirius, the Dog Star, and then later in the day, hearing N. canicularis singing away in the trees surrounding your fields. Those two signs signal that summer is reaching its peak, and harvest will start soon enough.

N. canicularis can be found in the following states and provinces: AR, CT, DC, IL, IN, IA, KS, ME, MB, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NB, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, NS, OH, ON, PA, PE, QC, RI, SC, SD, TN, VT, VA, WV, WI.

Here is a screen capture of the computer app Stellarium, with Canis Major and Sirius rising above the horizon before dawn.

Sirius rising

If you’re interested in stars, check out Stellarium. It is free.

Visit the Songs of Insects site for a nice photo and sound file of the Dog Day cicada. Also by their book Songs of Insects – it is inexpensive and comes with a CD.

Categories
Neotibicen Paul Krombholz Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) Tibicen

An interesting question about Neotibicen identification

Paul Krombholz has an interesting question about Neotibicen identification.

In Kathy Hill’s picture of 18 species, T. canicularis looks quite different from T. davisi, but I have at least one T. davisi, captured in my back yard, that looks very similar to three canicularis individuals I caught in Northern Illinois a couple of weeks ago. The canicularis individuals all have the white “hip” spots and none of my davisi have them have them. T. davisi has a slightly larger head. The big question is, What features reliably distinguish the two species considering all the variety seen within species?

Tibicen davisi

Categories
Neotibicen Paul Krombholz Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) Tibicen

Variation in Neotibicen davisi

Paul Krombholz has discovered some interesting variations in the Tibicen davisi cicadas. I’m quoting Paul’s email in its entirety below.

Here is the composite photo showing variation in Tibicen davisi. The
additional one I wanted to add turned out not to be as dark as I thought,
but it has a different pattern. All these came from the trees in my
backyard in central Mississippi this season. Colors on the dorsal (top)
side vary from dark brown to green. Perhaps the most typical is the “olive”
one in the middle. On the ventral (bottom) side, the black abdominal stripe
varies from very wide to non-existent. Variation in the size of the black
abdominal stripe is not related to the color on the dorsal side, as I have
seen absolutely no abdominal stripe on both a greenish one and a very dark
brown one.

Davis described a variety of T. davisi—T davisi var. hardeni—which has
little or no abdominal stripe. However, it also has darkening next to the
wing veins of the seven marginal cells as in T. superbus
(http://static.flickr.com/31/60751246_f60d00e2a9.jpg?v=0), While its upper
side is “less rusty” than the typical T. davisi, its underside is also
green. (Dr. Alan Sanborn, personal communication). Since my examples only
vary as to the “greenness” of the upper side and to the size of the
abdominal stripe, none of them fit completely the description of var.
hardeni. If anyone finds a T. davisi that meets the description of var.
hardeni, I think Dr. Sanborn would like to know about it.

Variation in Tibicen davisi by Paul Krombholz

Variation in Tibicen davisi by Paul Krombholz

Categories
Kathy Hill Megatibicen Neotibicen Tibicen U.S.A.

Auletes (no Megatibicen grossus) IS the biggest USA cicada!

Cicada researcher Kathy Hill took this unbelievable photo of 18 different USA Neotibicen & Megatibicen specimens, plus a Quesada gigas (upper right) for comparison.

Kathy Hill. Auletes is the biggest Tibicen

Click/tap the image for a much larger version. Contact Insect Singers for more information about the image.

I just took a photo of all the “eastern USA” Tibicens except
latifasciata, which we haven’t got yet (I didn’t include the “little
western” Tibicens like T. texana that are more centrally located
either). But I did also add T. duryi from the west coast and Q.
gigas, just for comparison.

I just wanted to prove that auletes IS the biggest USA cicada 🙂

Note that the these cicadas were reorganized into two new genera: Megatibicen (larger USA Tibicen) and Neotibicen (smaller USA Tibicen) since this original announcement in 2006.

* Note as of 2023 the name of this cicada has changed to Megatibicen grossus. You can also call it a Northern Dusk-Signing Cicada. Cicada names change a lot.