November 20, 2014

Australia Cicada Websites

Filed under: Australia — Dan @ 10:26 am

This is a selection of links to websites dedicated to the cicadas of Australia.

A web guide to the Cicadas of Australia. BY L.W. Popple. Features an abundance of cicada information, photos and maps PHOTOS MAPS AUDIO.
Brisbane Cicadas (brisbaneinsects.com) One of the best Australian cicada sites. Features pages for the following cicadas Brown Bunyip, Razor Grinder, Bladder Cicada, Floury Baker, Thin-striped Wattle Cicada, Small Bottle. Many photos and some audio files. PHOTOS AUDIO
Narelle Power’s Cicada Photos (pbase.com) About a dozen photos, including Cicadetta oldfieldi (Wattle), Tamasa tristigma (Brown Bunyip), Psaltoda harrisii (Yellow Belly). PHOTOS
Scribbly Gum’s The Summer of Signing Cicadas (abc.net.au) Many beautiful photos and fantastic information. PHOTOS MAPS
Morwell National Park Online (morwellnp.pangaean.net) Photos of Cicadetta abdominalis/Grasshopper firetail, Cicadetta denisoni/Black firetail, Cyclochila australasiae/Greengrocer, Pauropsalta rubristrigata/Great montane squeaker. PHOTOS
AusEmade Cicada (ausemade.com.au) An abundance of cicada information including photos and a chart that tells you where you can find cicadas by scientific and common names. PHOTOS

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July 27, 2014

Australian Cicada News

Filed under: Australia | L. W. Popple | Video — Dan @ 1:44 pm

It’s Winter in Australia but I have two cool pieces of Australian Cicada news for you.

First, Australian cicada expert and researcher Lindsay Popple has created a new website about the cicadas of Australia.

Also, he’s been placing cicada songs on SoundCloud as well:

@cicadamania The sounds that will link into my almost completed cicada website have already been uploaded here: https://t.co/yd9bGupveR

— Lindsay Popple (@_DrPop_) July 24, 2014

Second, Samuel Orr has shared some video of cicadas from Australia and New Zealand on Vimeo. I believe this video will be part of the cicada documentary he is working on.

Update! L. W. Popple said on Twitter that cicada season will start in Australia in 1 or 2 weeks! Australia has 8 month long cicada season!

@wapogipo88 @cicadamania With Tibicen out in USA and Birrima out in Australia, it will be world #cicadas in stereo! pic.twitter.com/zdFLBAnLOU

— Lindsay Popple (@_DrPop_) July 28, 2014

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March 29, 2014

Australian Cicadas by M.S. Moulds

Filed under: Australia | Books — Dan @ 6:47 pm

Australian Cicadas by M.S. Moulds was first published in 1990 by the New South Wales University Press. It is the best reference for Australian cicadas that I’ve found, and I use it at least once a week.

The book covers common names of cicada, life history, predators & parasites, distribution, anatomy, sound production & reception, and classification. The book also features an extensive catalog of Australian cicadas including photos, maps, and descriptions of their behavior.

It appears on Amazon and Ebay from time to time. I found my copy used. It was expensive but well worth the price.

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January 8, 2014

Visually identify 10 Aussie Cicadas

Filed under: Australia | David Emery — Dan @ 5:48 am

David Emery is an Aussie cicada expert. His image of 10 common Aussie cicadas is an excellent visual guide to cicadas found in Australia.

Also, check out L. Popple’s Australian cicadas: The cicadas of central eastern Australia for dozens more, including sound files as well as images.

And, here’s more images of Aussie cicadas and their interesting names.

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December 24, 2013

Photos of Cicadas from Australia

Filed under: Australia | Cyclochila | Pauropsalta | Thopha — Tags: Green Grocer — Dan @ 12:53 pm

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:

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December 22, 2013

Cicada News for November 2013

Filed under: Australia — Dan @ 5:47 pm

There were plenty of cicada sightings in Australia this November, like…

This Masked Devil (Cyclochila australasiae), photo taken by Kipp Droby.

A Cyclochia australiasiae with a “bitza” (little bit of everything) paint job — part Yellow Monday; part Masked Devil, by photographer Alan Davison.

A Green Grocer with many shades to green, by a photographer named Howard.

A nice blog post about Australian cicadas, by the Barnade Goose Paperworks.

A chilling video of a moulting cicada being attacked by ants.

A Redeye Cicada (Psaltoda moerens), photo taken by Michael Doe.

This banana-yellow Yellow Monday:

Tom Katzoulopolopolopolus found this amazingly yellow C. australasiae aka "Yellow Monday" in Galston, NSW, Australia. pic.twitter.com/IOWgKvworD

— Cicada Mania (@cicadamania) November 27, 2013

Double Drummers, like:

@cicadamania what kind of cicada is this? pic.twitter.com/WsNkcvaZfe

— georgie (@GEORGIE132) November 15, 2013

Or a Double Drummer and Razor Grinder:

Or this pair of Urabunana marshalli found south of Coolah, NSW by David Emery:

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Macro photo of a Floury Baker

Filed under: Aleeta | Australia | Lamotialnini — Tags: A. curvicosta — Dan @ 5:50 am

This is a wonderful macro photo of a Floury Baker (Aleeta curvicosta) from Australia. Thanks to Cameron for posting this photo on our Facebook page.

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November 23, 2013

Timelapse video of a Redeye Cicada Molting

Filed under: Australia | Psaltoda | Video — Tags: P. moerens, Redeye Cicada — Dan @ 5:25 pm

This video taken by Samantha Madell in NSW Australia is a time lapse video of of a Redeye Cicada (Psaltoda moerens) molting.

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November 11, 2013

A moulting cicada in NSW Australia

Filed under: Australia — Dan @ 11:32 pm

Birth of a Cicada, originally uploaded by QuickBrownGoat.

This cicada photo was taken by photographer Cameron George about 60km south of Sydney Australia. I believe this is a Green Grocer, but I’m not 100% sure. The cicada is attempting to molt.

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October 12, 2013

A third way cicadas make sounds

Filed under: Anatomy | Audio, Sounds, Songs | Australia | Cyclochila | Video — Dan @ 8:06 am

Cicadas are well known for the songs male cicadas make with their their tymbals, which are drum-like organs found in their abdomens.

Some female cicadas will also flick their wings to get the males attention. Watch this video where a male Magicicada is convinced that the snapping of fingers is a wing flick. Note: Magicicada males will also flick their wings once they become infected with the Massospora cicadina fungus (which removes their sex organs).

There is a third way some cicadas can make sounds. This method of creating a sound is unique to the Australian species Cyclochila australasiae (aka the Green Grocer and Masked Devil). These cicadas have stridulatory ridges on their pronotal collars (the collar shaped structure at the back of their head), and a stridulatory scraper on their fore wing.

From M. S. MOULDS, 2012, A review of the genera of Australian cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea). Magnolia Press Auckland, New Zealand. p84:

Cyclochila is unique among the Cicadoidea in possessing a stridulatory file on the underside of the lateral angles of the pronotal collar that interacts with a scraper on the fore wing base (Fig. 132). Rubbed together these produce low audible sound in hand-held specimens (K. Hill, pers. comm.), the purpose of which is for sexual com- munication at close quarters (J. Kentwell and B. Fryz, pers. comm.)

Here is a photo of these structures:

Structure on Green Grocer

The location of these structures is right about where the blue pin is in this photo:
Collar

Update:

Tim McNary of the Bibliography of the Cicadoidea website, let us know that Clidophleps cicadas are also able to create should using a stridulatory structure. Clidophleps is a genus of cicada that can be found in California, Nevada, Arizona, and I assume adjacent parts of Mexico. Clidophleps differs from Cyclochila in that the stridulatory structure is on its mesonotum, and not its pronotal collar.

Photo courtesy of Tim McNary:
stridatory file

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