Cicada researchers associated with academic institutions.

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.

While tweeting about my scientific in-laws, I can’t leave out mother-in-law Maxine Shoemaker Heath. The second edition of her “Big book of cicadas” was just published. It is full of photos & drawings of cicadas. Great stuff. @aaas @cicadamania pic.twitter.com/N6nqiu9UG7

— Michael E. Smith (@MichaelESmith) February 17, 2018

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New paper: Massospora cicadina hijacks the sexual signals of periodical cicadas

A new paper, A specialized fungal parasite (Massospora cicadina) hijacks the sexual signals of periodical cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada), has been published by John R. Cooley, David C. Marshall & Kathy B. R. Hill, in Scientific Reports 8, Article number: 1432 (2018).

Read the paper online.

In a nutshell: the fungus infects males and causes them to exactly mimic the mating behavior of female cicadas, thus infected males end up spreading the fungus to uninfected males.

Abstract:

Male periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) infected with conidiospore-producing (“Stage I”) infections of the entomopathogenic fungus Massospora cicadina exhibit precisely timed wing-flick signaling behavior normally seen only in sexually receptive female cicadas. Male wing-flicks attract copulation attempts from conspecific males in the chorus; close contact apparently spreads the infective conidiospores. In contrast, males with “Stage II” infections that produce resting spores that wait for the next cicada generation do not produce female-specific signals. We propose that these complex fungus-induced behavioral changes, which resemble apparently independently derived changes in other cicada-Massospora systems, represent a fungus “extended phenotype” that hijacks cicadas, turning them into vehicles for fungus transmission at the expense of the cicadas’ own interests.

And now, because I need an image for the post: a meme:

Fungus Bae

Cicadas, when infected, are called “salt shakers of doom”. Add that to the meme “Salt Bae”, and the image makes sense.

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January 6, 2018

New paper about Brood XXII Magicicadas

There is a new paper out about Brood XXII, titled Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada). I helped with the field work for this paper, traveling through Ohio and Kentucky with Roy Troutman, recording the locations of periodical cicadas.

Brood XXII, a brood of Magicicada periodical cicadas with a 13-year lifecycle, exists in Louisiana & Mississippi, and Ohio & Kentucky with no geographic connection between them (the two groups are geographically isolated). The paper discusses the similarities and differences between the two groups.

You can read and download the paper for free.

Citation for the paper:
Gene Kritsky, Roy Troutman, Dan Mozgai, Chris Simon, Stephen M Chiswell, Satoshi Kakishima, Teiji Sota, Jin Yoshimura, John R Cooley; Evolution and Geographic Extent of a Surprising Northern Disjunct Population of 13-Year Cicada Brood XXII (Hemiptera: Cicadidae, Magicicada), American Entomologist, Volume 63, Issue 4, 12 December 2017, Pages E15—E20, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmx066

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December 10, 2017

Four new species of Semia from Vietnam

Four new species of Semia cicadas living in Vietnam were described in 2017: Semia magna, Semia spiritus, Semia pallida, and Semia albusequi.

Here’s the details on the paper:

Title: Descriptions of four new species of Semia Matsumura (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Psithyristriini) from Vietnam, with a key to the species of Semia
Authors: David Emery, Young June Lee, & Thai Pham.
Year: 2017
Publication: Zootaxa. 4216. 153-166.
Document link: https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4216.2.2
Abstract:

This paper provides descriptions of four new species of the genus Semia Matsumura, 1917 from Vietnam: Semia magna sp. nov., Semia spiritus sp. nov., Semia pallida sp. nov., and Semia albusequi sp. nov. A key to the 13 species of Semia is provided.

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The World Cup Cicada, Chremistica ribhoi

Filed under: Chremistica | India | Periodical | Sudhanya Hajong | Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) — Tags: C. ribhoi — Dan @ 1:01 am

Update: this cicada has a Leap-Year Brood (2024) as well as a World-Cup Brood (2026)! Both have 4-year year life cycle.

cicada soccer

Chremistica ribhoi Hajong and Yaakop 2013 is a cicada that lives in the Ri-Boi district of India. C. ribhoi is known as the World Cup cicada because it emerges every four years in synch with the World Cup association football (soccer) tournament.

C. ribhoi is known locally as Niangtasar. It only lives in a very small area: Saiden village (25Â°51’37.1″N 91Â°51’16.3″E) and Lailad/Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary (25Â°55’09.7″N 91Â°46’25.0″E) situated on the northern part of the state of Meghalaya. The cicada can be identified by the presence of two white spots on either side of the anterior abdominal segment.

Researcher Sudhanya Hajong is gearing up to study these cicadas since this is the year they will emerge. Ri-Boi area locals use these cicadas as a food source and fish bait. These cicadas are threatened by deforestation (cutting down forests for agricultural purposes). Sudhanya plans to educate locals about conserving them and protecting their habitat.

Photos of Chremistica ribhoi.

Most of the facts in the post come from the following document: Hajong, S.R. 2013. Mass emergence of a cicada (Homoptera: Cicadidae) and its capture methods and consumption by villagers in ri-bhoi district of Meghalaya. Department of Zoology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong – 793 022, Meghalaya, India.

Thanks to Chris Simon of The Simon Lab at UCONN for providing the information that made this post possible.

Note: the image in this article is not an accurate depiction of C. ribhoi. 🙂

There’s also a brood of C. ribhoi that emerges during Leap-years.

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November 26, 2017

A 3-Year Survey of Oklahoma’s 41 Cicadas

Filed under: Papers and Documents | Robert L. Sanders | U.S.A. — Dan @ 10:16 am

Cicada researcher Robert L. Sanders has written a paper documenting a 3-Year survey of Oklahoma cicadas. The paper is appropriately titled “A 3-Year Survey of Oklahoma Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) with New State Records” and was published in Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 89(4):315-337. Access it via this link.

The number of cicadas identified living in Oklahoma has been raised to 41. The previous number, as documented in the works of Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips, was 34¹.

Here’s the abstract of Robert’s paper:

ABSTRACT: Between September of 2013 and September of 2016 an intermittent survey of the cicada diversity and distribution in Oklahoma was conducted. The results of this survey are presented here as a current updated annotated checklist. Seven species in four genera are newly recorded as resident in Oklahoma: Diceroprocta texana (Davis, 1916), Megatibicen figuratus (Walker, 1858), Neotibicen davisi harnedi (Davis, 1918), Neotibicen linnei (Smith & Grossbeck, 1907), Neotibicen robinsonianus (Davis, 1922), Okanagana viridis Davis, 1918, and Pacarina shoemakeri Sanborn and Heath, 2012. This brings the total number of species inhabiting the state to 41. Discussed are seven additional species possibly occurring in the state and Oklahoma’s cicada diversity.

¹ Sanborn Allen F. Phillips, Polly K. (2014). Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico. Diversity 2013, 5, 166-239; doi:10.3390/d5020166

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November 5, 2017

A new paper about Kikihia hybridization

Filed under: Chris Simon | Kikihia | New Zealand | Papers and Documents — Dan @ 10:59 am

There’s a new paper from Sarah E. Banker, Elizabeth J. Wade, and Chris Simon titled “The confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic estimation in the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia”.

Here are the highlights:

Tested validity of an unexpected “Westlandica” mitochondrial clade with nuclear loci.
Phylogenetic signal and pattern differ dramatically among nuclear genes but always weak on South Island.
No conflict between nuclear concatenation vs species trees from multiple methods.
Three nuclear species trees support major North Island but not South Island mitochondrial clades.

Here’s the citation information:

Sarah E. Banker, Elizabeth J. Wade, Chris Simon, The confounding effects of hybridization on phylogenetic estimation in the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 116, November 2017, Pages 172-181, ISSN 1055-7903, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.08.009.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790317302348)

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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)

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October 27, 2017

14 new species of grassland, woodland & scrubland Myopsalta cicadas

Filed under: Australia | L. W. Popple | Myopsalta — Dan @ 11:29 pm

Lindsay Popple published a new paper describing 14 new species of grassland, woodland & scrubland Myopsalta cicadas. Download it from Zootaxa.

Here are the particulars:

Volume: Zootaxa 4340 (1): 001—098; 2017.
Title: A revision of the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species group (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettini) with 14 new species from mainland Australia
Author: LINDSAY W. POPPLE

Abstract:

The genus Myopsalta Moulds is distributed throughout much of Australia. Previous studies have associated several undescribed species with the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species complex. The present study informally divides the cicadas in the genus Myopsalta into two species groups. It provides a revision of the M. crucifera species group, which includes redescriptions of M. crucifera s. str. and M. mackinlayi (Distant). The identity of the latter species is further refined and attributed to material formerly presented under the name Myopsalta atrata (Goding & Froggatt). In addition to the redescriptions, 14 new species belonging to the M. crucifera species group are described, including M. albiventris n. sp., M. bassiana n. sp., M. chrysopedia n. sp., M. gordoni n. sp., M. leona n. sp., M. longicauda n. sp., M. majurae n. sp., M. melanobasis n. sp., M. parvula n. sp., M. platyptera n. sp., M. riverina n. sp., M. septa n. sp., M. umbra n. sp. and M. xerograsidia n. sp. A key to species in the genus Myopsalta is provided. Standard morphological descriptions and descriptions of calling songs unique to each species are included along with a discussion on different song types in the M. crucifera species group.

And the announcement from Twitter:

My paper describing 14 new species of grassland, woodland & scrubland Myopsalta cicadas was published today. Study funded by @BushBlitz2 https://t.co/rnBuwXwIn2

— Lindsay Popple (@_DrPop_) October 27, 2017

The book Vol 4340, No 1 was published today.https://t.co/FtKHNUhjbf pic.twitter.com/AyIH4kRPvR

— Zootaxa updates (@Zootaxa) October 27, 2017

Visit Lindsay’s cicada website.

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October 8, 2017

Cicada Fungi Research

Filed under: Massospora | Matt Kasson — Dan @ 5:37 pm

Magicicada septendecim with Massosporan fungus found at the Edison Memorial Tower Park in Edison NJ
A “Salt-Shaker of Death”. (Deadly for the cicada, not humans.)

Many types of fungi will eat cicadas, but one type — the Massospora — specifically infests and destroys cicada genitalia. Specifically, Massospora cicadina attacks Magicicada cicadas, and Massospora levispora attacks Okanagana rimosa. According to the website MycoBank Database, there’s at least 19 species of Massospora. By the names of some, you can guess which cicada it infects; Massospora diceroproctae likely infects Diceroprocta cicadas.

It’s not certain, but there are sure to be many more species of Massospora fungi — if not one for each species, perhaps approximately one for each genus. Considering that Massospora infects cicadas all around the world, it’s fair to assume that Massospora has been infecting cicadas for many millions of years.

At West Virginia University, Matt Kasson & his team are studying Massospora, and are looking for samples of cicadas with these infections. Matt regularly Tweets photos and finding such as this one of spores from a Platypedia cicada:

Soper's 1974 monograph on Massospora did not include a resting spore stage for M. platypedia. Its cool to be the first to see it! #fungi pic.twitter.com/iUqyTGO2if

— Matt Kasson (@kasson_wvu) October 6, 2017

If you have some samples of such cicadas and are willing to part with them, let Matt know.

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