Tosena is a genus of cicadas that can be found in the Indo-Malaya ecozone, which includes the Indian subcontinent, Southeastern Asia and southern China. Tosena cicadas have colorful wings, which rival the beauty of butterfly wings. Tosena are easily obtainable online from stores that sell insects, or ebay. The Tosena genus was first identified by Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot & Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville in 1843.
From A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant:
Tosena is one of the most conspicuous genera of the Cicadidae, and its species are all included in this fauna. The north-eastern districts of Continental India are its head-quarters, for here are focused some of the largest and handsomest of its species ; it is also well represented in Burma, and from thence its distribution is extended throughout the Malay Peninsula to the south, and apparently northward as far as some portions of China. In the Malayan Archipelago it is not uncommon in Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and as I have seen representatives from Amboyna, it probably exists in other intervening islands, of which, however, we have at present no precise information.
Different types of Tosena:
Tosena albata:
Photo by Michel Chantraine.
Photos of live T. albata.
Distinguishing features: Mustard colored pronotal collar, orange abdomen with a series of two black circular spots, and dark brown wings with one white stripe on each fore wing.
Habitat: Southeast Asia.
Tosena depicta:
Illustration from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant.
Photos of living T. depicta.
Distinguishing features: A vibrant green pronotal collar; an orange abdomen with a series of black markings; wings are dark brown to black, with the one white stripe on each fore wing, and a white anal lobe on each hind wing.
Phantastic songs of the S.E. Asian cicadas! website has an MP3 of a T. depicta singing.
Habitat: Southeast Asia.
Tosena dives
No photos (on this site), but I’ve seen them on the Cicadas of India Facebook page.
Distinguishing features: Brown wings, with one white stripe on each fore wing, and the hind wings are half orange.
Habitat: India.
Tosena fasciata
Tosena fasciata by Álvaro Lisón Gómez Creative Commons License.
Photo of a live T. fasciata.
Distinguishing features: A pale orange pronotal collar; brown wings with one white stripe on each fore wing; an orange abdomen with one black spot; the the anal lobe of the hind wing appears lighter in color than the rest of the hind wing.
Habitat: Southeast Asia.
Tosena mearesiana
No photos.
Distinguishing features: See A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant
Habitat: India.
Tosena melanoptera
Photos of a live T. melanoptera.
Distinguishing features: Red eyes; white pronotal collar; pale brown stripe on dark brown fore wings.
Habitat: India & Southeast Asia.
Tosena monitvaga
No photos.
Distinguishing features: See A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant
Habitat: India.
Tosena paviei
Photo by Michel Chantraine.
A photo of a live T. paviei.
Distinguishing features: Red “mask” between eyes. Black wings, with one pale-orange stripe on each fore wing, light-orange veins, and hind wings that are half orange.
Habitat: Southeast Asia.
Distantalna splendida (formerly Tosena sibylla)
Technically speaking, the Tosena splendida is now Distantalna splendida. It has its own genus, and if you compare it visually to the other Tosena, you can see on reason why (no wing stripe).
Illustration from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant.
Distinguishing features: See A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant
Habitat: Southeast Asia.
Tosena splendida
Photo by Michel Chantraine.
Illustration from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant.
A photo of a live T. splendida.
Distinguishing features: Pale green hind wings; Fore wings feature an intricate white, dark-brown, orange and yellow pattern based on the structure of the viens of the wing; red markings on legs; yellow markings on thorax.
Habitat: India, Southeast Asia.
Sources to learn more about Tosena cicadas:
- The Book Cicadas of Thailand: General and Particular Characteristics. Volume 1 by Michel Boulard. This book mentions Tosena, in particular, many times, and in general it does an excellent job of discussing the anatomy, behavior and habitat of cicadas found in Thailand.
- A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae by W. L. Distant. (1889, Published by the Order of the Trustees of the Indian Museum of Calcutta).
- Rhynchota: Heteroptera-Homopetera ( Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma ) by W. L. Distant (1906)
- The Cicadas of India Facebook page
