Locations (Page 61) - Cicada Mania

Locations where cicadas can be found, including countries and continents.

December 9, 2012

Learn about the cicadas of Singapore

Want to learn more about the cicadas of Singapore?

The National University of Singapore has six PDF documents about six species of cicadas living in Singapore. Each document contains photos of cicadas, and plenty of interesting information.

1) Record Of The Cicada, Purana usnani Duffels & Schouten In Singapore, With Preliminary Acoustic Analysis by Tzi Ming Leong (Nature In Singapore 2012 5: 13—17 Date Of Publication: 17 January 2012). Link: rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2012/2012nis013-017.pdf.

This document features photos of the P. usnani as well as analysis of their songs.

A video of Purana usnani singing:

2) Oviposition By The Black And Scarlet Cicada, Huechys sanguinea (De Geer, 1773) In Singapore by Tzi Ming Leong and Ali bin Ibrahim (Nature In Singapore 2011 4: 303—306 Date Of Publication: 18 October 2011). Link: rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2011/2011nis303-306.pdf.

Huechys sanguinea is a small but beautiful black and red cicada. This document features photos of an H. sanguinea ovipositing (laying eggs) in a tree branch.

Huechys sanguinea
An image of H. sanguinea, which can be found in Singapore, Thailand and other S.E. Asian countries (and often in acrylic keychains on ebay).

3) Records Of The Cicada, Chremistica umbrosa (Distant, 1904) In Singapore, With Accounts Of Its Mass Emergence by Tzi Ming Leong, Aminurashid and Benjamin P. Y-H. Lee (Nature In Singapore 2011 4: 163—175 Date Of Publication: 15 June 2011). Link: rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2011/2011nis163-175.pdf.

This document features information about distribution, emergence, bio-acoustics, communal feeding, and predation.

Here’s a video of an aggregation C. umbrosa urinating and singing:

4) Records Of The Black And Golden Cicada, Huechys fusca Distant, 1892 In Singapore, With Natural History Observations by Tzi Ming Leong, Mishak Shunari, Laurence Y. K. Leong, and Sai Khoon Foo (Nature In Singapore 2011 4: 203—211 Date Of Publication: 8 July 2011). Link: rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2011/2011nis203-211.pdf.

This document features information about emergence, bio-acoustics, mating, and oviposition of Huechys fusca.

A video of Huechys fusca singing:

5) Records Of The Black And Scarlet Cicada, Huechys sanguinea (De Geer) In Singapore, With Notes On Its Emergence by Ali bin Ibrahim and T. M. Leong (Nature In Singapore 2009 2: 317—322 Date Of Publication: 5 August 2009). Link: rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2009/2009nis317-322.pdf.

This document features observations of Huechys sanguinea. Huechys sanguinea is a beautiful cicada.

6) The Jade-Green Cicada, Dundubia vaginata (Fabricius, 1787) In Singapore, With Notes On Emergence, Bioacoustics, And Mating by Tzi Ming Leong, Mishak Shunari, Aminurashid and Timothy D. Harvey-Samuel (Nature In Singapore 2011 4: 193—202 Date Of Publication: 5 July 2011). Link: rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2011/2011nis193-202.pdf.

This document features information about emergence, bio-acoustics, and mating of Dundubia vaginata. Dundubia are known for there huge opercula (the structures on their abdomen that cover the cicada’s tympanum (tympanum are a cicada’s ear drums).

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December 2, 2012

Blue Cicadas

Filed under: Anatomy | Australia — Dan @ 7:14 pm

Blue cicadas. Did you know they exist? They do… at least in Australia.

What’s That Bug recently posted a photo of a blue Bladder Cicada from Australia (Cystosoma saundersii). It’s a great find. Cystosoma saundersii are typically green.

Then there is the Blue Moon blue colored morph of Cyclochila australasiae:

Cyclochila australasiae, Blue Moon, by David Emery
Photo by David Emery

Cyclochila australasiae come in many colors, but the most common color is green. “Blue Moon” is a good nickname for these cicadas because they are rare and only found, idiomatically speaking, “once in a Blue Moon”.

So, why are some cicadas blue, when their species is typically green? Here is a quote from the paper Blue, red, and yellow insects by B. G. BENNETT, Entomology Division, DSIR, Private Bag, Auckland, New Zealand:

The colours of insects are often due to a complex mixture of pigments, some of which
are concentrated from their diet. These are carotenoids, flavonoids, and anthraquinones, and some are porphyrins made from the breakdown of plant chlorophyll. Insectoverdin is a common green pigment produced by a mixture of blue and yellow compounds. The blue is tetrapyrrole, but sometimes an anthocyanin, and the yellow is a carotenoid.

Blue + yellow = green. If the yellow is missing, you get a blue cicada. I heard that, at least in the case of the Cyclochila australasiae, the blue cicadas are typically females. Perhaps something related to genetics or behavior of the females leads to an inability to process the caroteniods ingested along with their diet (tree fluids). I’m not sure, but it’s a topic that fascinates me, so I’ll continue to look into it.

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November 11, 2012

Great website: The cicadas of central eastern Australia

Filed under: Australia — Dan @ 6:42 am

If you are located in Australia and like cicadas, you should visit The cicadas of central eastern Australia, a website created by Lindsay Popple.

Popple’s website includes: photos, maps, range & season, habits, and recordings of the song of dozens of Australian cicadas. Very complete and well done.

The site was recommended to me by David Emery.

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November 8, 2012

Brazil Cicada Identification Challenge, Part 2

Filed under: Brazil | Fidicina | Fidicinini | Fidicinoides | Identify — Tags: F. picea — Dan @ 9:43 pm

Here is part 2. Jairo of Cigarras do Brasil — Brazilian Cicadas asked for our help to identify some unknown cicada species from Brazil. The following photographs feature cicadas from Brazil we want to identify. We are hoping folks in the cicada research community can help.

Note: All of these cicadas were photographed at Paraibuna, São Paulo. This town is close to the ParaÃba Valley (Vale do ParaÃba), and to São José dos Campos and CaÃ§apava.

1) Possibly an Ariasa sp. (about 1/2 inch (1,3cm))

Possibly an Ariasa sp. (about 1/2 inch (1,3cm))

2) Possibly a Quesada sodalis (about 1 1/2 inch (4cm))

Possibly a Quesada sodalis (about 1 1/2 inch (4cm))

Cicadas 3, 4 and 5 were identified by David Emery as Fidicinoides picea (Walker, 1850). Learn more about Fidicnoides picea.

3) Identified: Fidicinoides picea.

Fidicinoides picea

4) Identified: Fidicinoides picea.

Fidicinoides picea

5) Identified: Fidicinoides picea.

Fidicinoides picea

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Brazil Cicada Identification Challenge, Part 1

Filed under: Brazil | Identify | Sounds | Video — Dan @ 9:19 pm

Jairo of Cigarras do Brasil – Brazilian Cicadas asked for our help to identify some unknown cicada species from Brazil. The following videos feature cicada song belonging to the cicadas we want to identify. We are hoping folks in the cicada research community can help.

Note: All of these cicadas were photographed at Paraibuna, São Paulo. This town is close to the ParaÃba Valley (Vale do ParaÃba), and to São José dos Campos and CaÃ§apava.

The first cicada Unknown Cicada Song from Brazil sounds like a siren from a science fiction movie:

The second video Unknown cicada song (along with Q. gigas) – Need identification features a Quesada gigas and another cicada. It’s the other cicada we need to identify.

As a reference, here is the song of the Quesada gigas:

View all cicada identification challenges.

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September 23, 2012

The New Forest Cicada Project

Filed under: Cicadetta | England — Dan @ 4:56 pm

I mentioned the New Forest Cicada a few weeks ago. It is the only cicada native to the United Kingdom, but no one has observed it since 2000, so it might be extinct. I hope it is not extinct.

Now there is a team of researchers called The New Forest Cicada Project who plan to use a smartphone app, for your Android or iOS device, to listen for and identify the cicada.

Do you live in England? Are you in the area of the New Forest National Park? If so, make sure you download the app when it’s ready and then next May-July, go listening for the New Forest cicada.

This story was also mentioned in a Guardian UK article.

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August 27, 2012

New Forest cicada (Cicadetta montana)

Filed under: Cicadetta | England — Dan @ 4:17 pm

There is only one type of cicada in the United Kingdom, and it is called the New Forest cicada (Cicadetta montana). It is named for the New Forest National Park, where these cicadas can be found in the pasture woodlands. It is both rare and endangered, according to this FAQ, however, according to another website, it might be extinct. It sounds like a small gas motor (in my opinion).

The website ARKive has Five videos of the New Forest cicada, including one featuring cicada larvae still in a tree branch.

Cicadas belonging to the Genus Cicadetta are known as “small grass cicadas”. The New Forest cicada belongs to the same subfamily (Subfamily Cicadettinae) as the Magicicada periodical cicadas that live in the U.S.A.

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August 5, 2012

Cicadas of Canada

Filed under: Annual | Canada — Dan @ 9:01 am

Someone recently asked which cicadas live in the Toronto area in Canada. Here are links to three such cicadas:

Okanagana canadensis (Canadian cicada)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/202488
http://www.musicofnature.org/songsofinsects/iframes/cicadas/popup_okancana.html

Okanagana rimosa (Say’s cicada)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/41209
http://www.musicofnature.org/songsofinsects/iframes/cicadas/popup_okanrimo.html

Tibicen canicularis (Dog-day cicada)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/12461
http://www.musicofnature.org/songsofinsects/iframes/cicadas/popup_tibicann.html

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November 7, 2011

Another Brazilian Cicada ID challenge

Filed under: Brazil | Identify — Dan @ 5:23 pm

Jairo from Cigarras do Brasil — Brazilian Cicadas website returns with more cicadas from Brazil for you to identify.

Cicada One

Brazil Brasil

Cicada Two

Brazil Brasil

Cicada Three

Brazil Brasil

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September 11, 2011

Fukushima radiation possibly impacting cicadas in Japan

Filed under: Japan — Dan @ 11:11 am

Update: @Zi_kade on twitter (he’s a cicada expert in Japan) said that these deformities were caused by wind. Good news.

Radiation from the Fukushima reactor is possibly impacting cicadas in Japan. I say possibly, because I don’t know for sure, but the following articles infer that radiation is playing a part in cicada deformities and complications during eclosing (when they shed their nymph skins and become adults). Looks like about 20% of cicadas are affected in the study mentioned in the articles. It will be interesting to see how this story plays out. If the affected cicadas were in areas that flooded during the tsunami, it could be their bodies were damaged by water soaking the ground or flooding their tunnels.

Breaking News: Radiation has started attacking DNA.

Photos of possibly affected cicadas:

Use Google Translate http://translate.google.com/ if you can’t read Japanese.

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