Cicada Mania

Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.

Cicada T-shirts

January 6, 2024

Cacama collinaplaga Sanborn and Heath in Sanborn, Heath, Phillips and Heath, 2011 aka Cactus Dodger

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | Cacama | Maxine E. Heath | U.S.A. — Dan @ 9:49 pm

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Cacama
Species: Cacama collinaplaga Sanborn and Heath in Sanborn, Heath, Phillips and Heath, 2011

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.

January 9, 2019

Neocicada australamexicana Sanborn & Sueur, 2005

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | Cicadini | Mexico | Neocicada | Rhynchota — Dan @ 1:01 am

Neocicada australamexicana Sanborn & Sueur, 2005 is a cicada found in Mexico. There’s a very similar cicada in the United Stated called Neocicada hieroglyphica hieroglyphica (Say, 1830).

Neocicada australamexicana was formerly known as Tettigia hieroglyphica.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cicadini
SubTribe: Leptopsaltriina [slender Harp player in Greek]
Genus: Neocicada
Species: Neocicada australamexicana Sanborn & Sueur, 2005

Neocicada australamexicana Sanborn & Sueur, 2005
The image says Tettigia hieroglyphica, but the newest name for this cicada is Neocicada australamexicana.

References:

  1. The illustration comes from Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. 1. By W. L. Distant F.E.S. and The Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S. (1881-1905). Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

June 19, 2018

Z. P. Metcalf Collection of Literature on Auchenorrhyncha

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | Papers and Documents — Dan @ 8:58 pm

Here is information about a research resource for Auchenorrhyncha researchers. I’m posting at the request of Lew Dietz and Allen F Sanborn.

Z. P. Metcalf Collection of Literature on Auchenorrhyncha

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to make you aware of an exciting resource that is available to you at the Special Collections Research Center at NCSU Libraries in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Zeno Payne Metcalf Entomology Research Collection is an outstanding resource for scholars. The link to the finding aid is here:

https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00220

And the link to the associated database for individual publications is here: http://metcalf.lib.ncsu.edu/metcalf/

If you would like to make an appointment to view any materials in person, or to request a copy of a publication remotely, please email us at: library_specialcollections@ncsu.edu

We typically need 2-3 business days to pull selected materials from off-site storage. More information about visiting the Special Collections Research Center can be found here: https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scrc/using-materials

Finally, we are pleased to let you know that low-resolution copies (PDFs) only cost 50 cents per page, but, if you bring a camera (no flash allowed) or cell phone, you can take photographs at no cost in the Special Collections Reading Room. If you are unable to visit in person, we can still provide low-resolution copies (PDFs) to you for the fees outlined above. For security reasons, arrangements to pay using a major credit card (preferred) or bank transfer, should be made by telephone. Copyright law applies; see: https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scrc/copyright

If you have any further questions about the Metcalf materials or copyright, please don’t hesitate to contact us at library_specialcollections@ncsu.edu

Sincerely, Gwynn Thayer, Acting Department Head, Special Collections Research Center (12 June 2018)

June 2, 2018

New paper on the molecular phylogeny of the cicadas and tribe and subfamily classification

A new paper has been published titled A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification by David C. Marshall, Max Moulds, Kathy B. R. Hill, Benjamin W. Price, Elizabeth J. Wade, Christopher L. Owen, Geert Goemans, Kiran Marathe, Vivek Sarkar, John R. Cooley, Allen F. Sanborn, Krushnamegh Kunte, Martin H. Villet, Chris Simon.

The paper was published in Vol 4424, No 1 of Zootaxa. Link to paper.

In a nutshell: These researchers compared the DNA of a variety of cicadas to determine how they are related evolutionarily and how they should be organized in terms of tribes and sub-families.

Abstract:

A molecular phylogeny and a review of family-group classification are presented for 137 species (ca. 125 genera) of the insect family Cicadidae, the true cicadas, plus two species of hairy cicadas (Tettigarctidae) and two outgroup species from Cercopidae. Five genes, two of them mitochondrial, comprise the 4992 base-pair molecular dataset. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic results are shown, including analyses to address potential base composition bias. Tettigarcta is confirmed as the sister-clade of the Cicadidae and support is found for three subfamilies identified in an earlier morpho- logical cladistic analysis. A set of paraphyletic deep-level clades formed by African genera are together named as Tettigo- myiinae n. stat. Taxonomic reassignments of genera and tribes are made where morphological examination confirms incorrect placements suggested by the molecular tree, and 11 new tribes are defined (Arenopsaltriini n. tribe, Durangonini n. tribe, Katoini n. tribe, Lacetasini n. tribe, Macrotristriini n. tribe, Malagasiini n. tribe, Nelcyndanini n. tribe, Pagi- phorini n. tribe, Pictilini n. tribe, Psaltodini n. tribe, and Selymbriini n. tribe). Tribe Tacuini n. syn. is synonymized with Cryptotympanini, and Tryellina n. syn. is synonymized with an expanded Tribe Lamotialnini. Tribe Hyantiini n. syn. is synonymized with Fidicinini. Tribe Sinosenini is transferred to Cicadinae from Cicadettinae, Cicadatrini is moved to Ci- cadettinae from Cicadinae, and Ydiellini and Tettigomyiini are transferred to Tettigomyiinae n. stat from Cicadettinae. While the subfamily Cicadinae, historically defined by the presence of timbal covers, is weakly supported in the molecular tree, high taxonomic rank is not supported for several earlier clades based on unique morphology associated with sound production.

January 23, 2018

Second edition of Cicadas of North American North of Mexico

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | Maxine E. Heath — Dan @ 5:31 am

Allen F. Sanborn and Maxine S. Heath have released the second edition of their book Cicadas of North American North of Mexico.

What’s new:

The second edition includes the addition of four new genera, the removal of two genera, and the addition of a few new species that were described since the first edition. We also added distributional data for all species.

Purchase a copy online from the Entomological Society of America.

Related articles:

November 5, 2017

New paper: thermal adaptation in North American cicadas

Temperature plays an important part in much of cicada behavior, such as determining when they emerge from the ground, and when they are active above ground.

There’s a new paper out from Allen F.Sanborn, James E.Heath, Maxine S.Heath and Polly K.Phillips titled “Thermal adaptation in North American cicadas”.

Here are the highlights:

  • Thermal responses are related specific environments of North America cicadas.
  • Thermoregulatory strategy can influence thermal responses in sympatric species.
  • Emergence time can influence thermal responses in sympatric species.
  • Subspecies in general do not differ in their thermal responses.
  • Thermal responses within a species do not differ in populations separated by more than 7600 km.

And here’s the citation info (even though I’m not citing anything):


Allen F. Sanborn, James E. Heath, Maxine S. Heath, Polly K. Phillips, Thermal adaptation in North American cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), In Journal of Thermal Biology, Volume 69, 2017, Pages v-xviii, ISSN 0306-4565, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.07.011.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030645651730181X)

September 17, 2016

What is Megatibicen?!

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | David Marshall | Maxine E. Heath | Megatibicen | Neotibicen — Dan @ 9:39 am

Update (9/20): I guessed the species correctly: all the Large Flute Players.

Update (9/24): I neglected to note that there’s another paper out there by Young June Lee called Description of three new genera, Paratibicen, Megatibicen, and Ameritibicen, of Cryptotympanini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) and a key to their species. Link to it here. This manuscript goes beyond one new genus, and instead introduces three: Paratibicen, Megatibicen, and Ameritibicen. Lee’s paper differs from Sanborn & Heath in that the large Neotibicen are spit into Megatibicen and Ameritibicen in Young’s document, but they’re all Megatibicen in Sanborn & Heath’s paper.

Megatibicen

Last night I had a rough night’s sleep. I tossed and turned all night long. I remember looking at the clock and seeing 4 am, and thinking “tomorrow is ruined”. Sometime during the night I dreamt of finding thousands of molted Neotibicen exuvia clinging to shrubbery — a rare if not impossible sight in real life.

When I woke I checked my email and found a communication from David Marshall. David is well known and respected in the cicada world for many things including describing the 7th species of Magicicada with John Cooley, as well as being part of the team who defined the Neotibicen and Hadoa genera (link to paper)1.

David wrote to let me know that Allen F. Sanborn and Maxine S. Heath had published a new paper titled: Megatibicen n. gen., a new North American cicada genus (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae: Cryptotympanini), 2016, Zootaxa Vol 4168, No 3.(link).

So, what is MEGATIBICEN? Assumptions after the abstract.

Here is the abstract:

The genus Tibicen has had a confusing history (see summary in Boulard and Puissant 2014; Marshall and Hill 2014; Sanborn 2014). Boulard and his colleague (Boulard 1984; 1988; 1997; 2001; 2003; Boulard and Puissant 2013; 2014; 2015) have argued for the suppression of Tibicen and the taxa derivatived from it in favor of Lyristes Horváth. Boulard’s argument for suppression was first described in Melville and Sims (1984) who presented the case for suppression to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature with further comments made by Hamilton (1985), Boulard (1985), and Lauterer (1985). A lack of action resulted in additional comments being published in 2014 again supporting the retention (Sanborn 2014; Marshall and Hill 2014) or the suppression (Boulard and Puissant 2014) of Tibicen.

My guess, without reading the document, is that Megatibicen includes the larger North America Neotibicen species, including the “auletes group” (M. auletes, M. resh, M. figuratus, M. resonans), the “pronotalis group” (M. pronotalis, M. dealbatus, M. cultriformis) and the “dorsatus group” (M. dorsatus, M. tremulus), or a mix of these. M. auletes is the largest cicada in North America. “Mega” is the Greek word for “very large” or “great”. Word is that Kathy Hill and David Marshall also planned on describing a Megatibicen genus at one point, as well.

Whenever cicada names change it causes feelings of bemusement, discontentment, and discomfort amongst some cicada researchers and fans. I know I don’t like it because I have to update the names of cicadas in 100’s of places on this website ;). Some folks simply disagree with the folks writing the paper. Some people prefer former names because they sound nicer (e.g. N. chloromerus vs N. tibicen tibicen). Some people simply do not like change.

Related: Here’s my article on when Neotibicen & Hadoa were established from Tibicen.

1 Hill, et al. Molecular phylogenetics, diversification, and systematics of Tibicen Latreille 1825 and allied cicadas of the tribe Cryptotympanini, with three new genera and emphasis on species from the USA and Canada (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadidae) 2015, Zootaxa 3985 (2): 219—251.

April 27, 2016

Beameria ansercollis Sanborn and M. Heath in Sanborn, M. Heath, Phillips and J. Heath, 2011

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | Beameria | Maxine E. Heath — Dan @ 9:02 pm

Beameria ansercollis Sanborn and M. Heath in Sanborn, M. Heath, Phillips and J. Heath, 2011.

Name, Location and Description

April 24, 2016

Pacarina shoemakeri Sanborn and Heath, 2012 aka Little Juniper Cicada

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | Fidicinini | Maxine E. Heath | Pacarina | U.S.A. — Dan @ 4:22 am

Pacarina shoemakeri Sanborn and Heath, 2012

Name, Location and Description

Classification:

Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadettinae
Tribe: Fidicinini
Subtribe: ?
Genera: Pacarina
Species: Pacarina shoemakeri Sanborn and Heath, 2012

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. 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.

April 22, 2016

Okanagana georgi Heath and Sanborn, 2007

Filed under: Allen F. Sanborn | Maxine E. Heath | Okanagana | Tibicinini | U.S.A. — Dan @ 7:52 pm

Okanagana georgi Heath and Sanborn, 2007.

Name, Location and Description

Classification:

Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadettinae
Tribe: Tibicinini
Subtribe: Tibicinina
Genera: Okanagana
Species: Okanagana georgi Heath and Sanborn, 2007

List of sources

  1. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  2. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  3. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  4. 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.

More »

Cicada T-shirts


We use cookies on CicadaMania.com to provide you with an excellent user experience.
We will assume that you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy if you continue accessing our site.