Kees Green sent us many photos of cicadas taken in Australia.
Here is a sample:
A Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) nymph:
An unidentified Pauropsalta sp.:
A Thopha sessilibia:
More cicada images from Kees:
December 24, 2013
August 22, 2010
Cicada Alphabet: G
G is for Greengrocer. The Greengrocer is the green morph of the Australian cicada Cyclochila australasiae. These cicadas can be found in south-eastern Australia. They have a large pronotal collar, and if you use your imagination, it looks like they’re wearing a tiny Pith helmet above their eyes.
Here’s a close of up of a Greengrocer (from Bron):
Here’s a box of Greengrocers (from Kevin Lee):
- Gaeana is a genus of cicadae found in Asia, like the black, gray, yellow and green Gaeana cheni
- Matija Gogala is a cicada researcher located in Ljubljana Slovenia. His Songs of Cicadas and Phantastic songs of the S.E. Asian cicadas! websites have been online since the 1990s.
December 4, 2007
Green Grocer
Bron sent us this Green Grocer photo taken in Orange NSW Australia.
The scientific term for Green Grocers is Cyclochila australasiae. The come in other varieties such as the yellow colored Yellow Mondays and blue Blue Moons.
Cyclochila australasiae can be found in eastern Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and most emerge in October and November (Moulds, M.S.. Australian Cicadas Kennsignton: New South Wales Press, 1990, p. 61.).
November 30, 2007
Australian Cicada Information
The many colors of the Cyclochila australasiae
I asked Dr. David Emery to explain the different colors of the Cyclochila australasiae, a.k.a. the Green Grocer, Yellow Monday, Blue Moon, Masked Devil, etc. David has allowed me to use his explanation on the site, and here it is:
Most “green” cicadas like our GG (Green grocer – Cyclochila australasiae) are coloured from the mixture of yellow and blue pigments. It is quite common for the blue to be missing to various degrees in GGs, and they exhibit shades of lighter green to yellow (even close to orange) and are then called “Yellow Mondays!”. It is also common for the blue pigment to fade in collections and so many “green” species turn a dull beige or brown. This can be fixed with a 24h soaking in 2.5-10% neutral-buffered formalin immediately after killing (or inject formalin after they die). MUCH more rarely, the yellow pigment can be missing and then we get the “Blue Moon”- love those purple eyes! In fact, having collected or spotted more than 10,000 GGs in my time, I have not caught a Blue Moon. My daughter Samantha, found the one in the photo when she was 4 years old, and another when she was 7!!
The orange-black, “masked devil” morph of the GG seems associated with altitude and these progressively appear with increasing frequency amongst GG populations above 500m in the mountains west of Sydney. For example, at Glenbrook, (elevation 150m) they are <5% of the population whereas at Hazelbrook and Blackheath (670m and 1200m, respectively), they increase to around 95% of the population. It was thought that cold underground temperatures during larval and nymphal development might also contribute, but the huge numbers of green GGs west of our ranges argue against a direct effect of temperature alone. Here the winter temps are very cold too, just as cold as the mountains. So just how these “melanisation” effects are mediated remain unresolved- one of life’s tantalizing mysteries!
Here are photos of cicadas by David Emery. Take a look.
Australian Cicada Websites
- The Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodges has a page of cicada facts and photos of Northern Greengrocers and a Green Baron from Tropical North Queensland.
- The AusEmade: Cicada page features cicada facts, as well as a very nice matrix of Common cicada names, their Scientific names and where they can be found. The site was just updated with Orange Drummer photos.
- The Brisbane Insects site has a selection of pages devoted to cicadas found in the Brisbane area. There are information and photos of Double Drummers, Clangers, White Drummers, Brown Bunyips, Razor Grinders, Bladder Cicadas, Floury Bakers, Thin-striped Wattles, Small Bottle, Either Bark Squeakers, and Small Bark Squeakers.
- The CSIRO site has a great list of cicadas by Scientific name; there are photos for each species, general information including where they are found.
- The Summer of Singing Cicadas page on the Scribbly Gum site is filled with excellent information including cicada names, keeping cicadas as pets, their sound, their life cycle, The Black Prince, cicada myths and where they can be found.
November 20, 2007
Cicada photos from Australia
I’m happy to announce that we received our first Australian cicada photos of this season!!! The photos were taken by Kevin Lee, Australia’s biggest cicada maniac.
According to Kevin:
This is the season for cicadas and this year they are more proliferating that usual. Some would call it a plague but I love it.
The birds (kookaburras and magpies) are having a feast!
Double Drummer (Thopha saccata):
The Double Drummer can be found in parts of eastern Queensland and Eastern NSW, from November to early March. (Moulds, M.S.. Australian Cicadas Kennsignton: New South Wales Press, 1990, p.55)
rare green yellow Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae) and others:
rare green yellow Green Grocer:
Cyclochila australasiae can be found in eastern Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and most emerge in October and November (Moulds, M.S.. Australian Cicadas Kennsignton: New South Wales Press, 1990, p. 61.).
December 24, 2006
Green Grocer Emerging
George Dalidakis emailed us this fantastic series of a Green Grocer cicadas (Cyclochila australasiae) emerging from its nymph exoskeleton (molting).
