Categories
Audio, Sounds, Songs Costa Rica Diceroprocta Francis Walker Mexico Tacuini (Cryptotympanini)

Diceroprocta bicosta (Walker, 1850)

Diceroprocta bicosta (Walker, 1850) is a cicada found in Mexico and Costa Rica.

Diceroprocta bicosta was formerly known as Cicada bicosta.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Diceroprocta
Species: Diceroprocta bicosta (Walker, 1850)

Diceroprocta bicosta (Walker, 1850)
This image says Cicada bicosta, but the newest name for this cicada is Diceroprocta bicosta.

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 verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Carl Stal Diceroprocta Mexico Rhynchota Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) William T. Davis

Diceroprocta alacris & Diceroprocta apache

Diceroprocta alacris & Diceroprocta apache are two cicadas, both found in Mexico. I’m covering them both in the same post because they were both formerly refrered to as Cicada transversa.

Diceroprocta apache

D. apache was formerly known as Cicada transversa.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Diceroprocta
Species: Diceroprocta apache (Davis, 1921)

D. apache, aka Citrus Cicada, is also found in the southern United States. Visit this page to listen to its song.

D. apache have triangle-shaped opercula.

Cicada transversa illustration from Insecta. Rhychota. – note the shape of the triangular shape of the opercula:

A photo of D. apache from my collection. Same/similar cicada? Maybe, maybe not. Note the opercula:

Diceroprocta alacris

There are two subspecies: D. alacris alacris (Stål, 1864) and D. alacris campechensis Davis, 1938.

Diceroprocta alacris was formerly known as Cicada alacris as well as Cicada transversa.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Diceroprocta
Species: Diceroprocta alacris
Subspecies: D. alacris alacris (Stål, 1864)
Subspecies: D. alacris campechensis Davis, 1938

Two varieties of Cicada alacris – note the rounded shape of the operculum:

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 verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Arnold Jacobi Genera Insectorum Heteropsaltria Solomon Islands Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) W. L. Distant

Heteropsaltria aliena Jacobi, 1902

Heteropsaltria aliena Jacobi, 1902, is a cicada found in the Solomon Islands.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Heteropsaltriaria
Genus: Heteropsaltria
Species: Heteropsaltria aliena

Heteropsaltria aliena Jacobi, 1902

Heteropsaltria genus description by W. L. Distant in Genera Insectorum, 1913:

Characters. — Head about as long as breath between eyes, a little shorter than pronotum, including eyes slightly broader than anterior margin of pronotum ; ocelli distinctly more remote from eyes than from each other; face longer than broad, moderately prominent; pronotum shorter than mesonotum including the basal cruciform elevation, the lateral margins distinctly broadly angulate near base; abdomen shorter than space between apex of head and base of cruciform elevation; tympana concealed; opercula short, transverse, not passing base of abdomen; rostrum passing the intermediate coxae ; tegmina broad, but not more than twice as long as broad, basal cell longer than broad, radial area large and broad, considerably longer than half the whole length of tegmen, thus causing the shortening of the three upper ulner areas; apical areas eight; wings narrower but more than half the length of tegmina, apical areas six.

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Cacama Genera Insectorum Mexico Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) W. L. Distant

Cacama maura (Distant, 1881)

Cacama maura (Distant, 1881) is a cicada found in Mexico.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Cacama
Species: Cacama maura (Distant, 1881)

Cacama maura (Distant, 1881)

Cacama genus description by W. L. Distant in Genera Insectorum, 1913:

Characters. — Head (including eyes) little more than two thirds the breadth of base of mesonotum, anteriorly depressed, its length only a little more than half the breadth between eyes; pronotum considerably shorter than mesonotum, its lateral margins obliquely sinuate; mesonotum somewhat convexly gibbous; abdomen short, broad, convex above, its length equal to the space between apex of head and base of cruciform elevation, the lateral margins a little angulate at posterior segmental angles; tympana completely covered, lateral margins of the tympanal coverings subparallel to the abdominal margins; rostrum reaching or passing the posterior coxae ; metasternum very large; opercula about half the length of abdomen above, broad, their apical margins convexly rounded, their lateral margins almost straight; tegmina and wings (excepting base) hyaline, the first broad, their greatest width a little less than half their length, apical areas eight in number, the two lowermost small, subquadrangular.

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Audio, Sounds, Songs Cuba Diceroprocta Francis Walker Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) U.S.A.

Diceroprocta biconica (Walker, 1850)

Diceroprocta biconica (Walker, 1850) was formerly known as Rihana biconica. The Rihana genus no longer exists.

It is found in Cuba and Florida in the U.S.:


Source: ©Insect Singers

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Diceroprocta
Species: Diceroprocta biconica (Walker, 1850)

Diceroprocta biconica (Walker, 1850)
The image says Rihana biconica, but the newest name of this cicada is Diceroprocta biconica.

For the fun of it, here is a genus description for Rihana:

Characters. — Flead distinctly longer than half the breadth between eyes, and including eyes wider than base of mesonotum ; face more or less prominent, its lateral margins in line with lateral margins of vertex; eyes oblique, longer than broad; pronotum a little narrowed behind eyes, about or almost as long as mesonotum in front of cruciform elevation ; abdomen not, or scarcely, longer than length between apex of face and base of cruciform elevation ; other characters generally as in Cicada.

Name, Location and Description

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Cryptotympana Genera Insectorum Masayo Kato Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) Taiwan Vietnam W. L. Distant

Cryptotympana holsti

There are two subspecies of Cryptotympana holsti: Cryptotympana holsti holsti Distant, 1904 and Cryptotympana holsti takahashii Kato, 1925. Cryptotympana holsti is found in Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and perhaps elsewhere in southwestern Asia.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Cryptotympana
Species: Cryptotympana holsti
Subspecies: Cryptotympana holsti holsti Distant, 1904
Subspecies: Cryptotympana holsti takahashii Kato, 1925

Not sure which subspecies this is, but I’m guessing Cryptotympana holsti holsti Distant, 1904:
Cryptotympana holsti

Cryptotympana genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Head broad, more or less transversely truncate between the eyes, including which it is a little broader than the base of mesonotum, its length only slightly more than half the breadth between eyes, ocelli about twice the distance from eyes as from each other, front slightly prominent; pronotum about as long as mesonotum, its lateral margins oblique, the posterior angles a little ampliate; abdomen in male about as long as space between apex of head and base of cruciform elevation, the tympanal orifices concealed by the tympanal coverings; opercula in male well developed, varying in shape and size; metasternum elevated at middle and furnished with a posterior process directed backward; anterior femora strongly spined beneath; tegmina hyaline or semi-opaque, basal cell longer than broad; apical areas eight.

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Diceroprocta Genera Insectorum Philip Reese Uhler Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) W. L. Distant William T. Davis

Diceroprocta cinctifera

Diceroprocta cinctifera is found in North America, specifically the south-western United States and Mexico. There are three subspecies. It was formerly known as Cicada cinctifera. Yes, its name has changed

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genera: Diceroprocta
Species: Diceroprocta cinctifera
Subspecies: Diceroprocta cinctifera cinctifera (Uhler, 1892)
Subspecies: Diceroprocta cinctifera limpia Davis, 1932
Subspecies: Diceroprocta cinctifera viridicosta Davis, 1930

Diceroprocta cinctifera
The image says Cicada cinctifera, but the name of this cicada is Diceroprocta cinctifera.

Song type: Call


Source: ©Insect Singers | Species: D. cinctifera cinctifera

Name, Location and Description

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
  3. Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
  4. Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
  5. Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
  6. Descriptions, Colors: personal observations from specimens or photos from many sources. Descriptions are not perfect, but may be helpful.
Categories
Antankaria Genera Insectorum Madagascar Robert Metcalf Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) W. L. Distant

Antankaria signoreti (Metcalf, 1955)

Antankaria signoreti (Metcalf, 1955) is found in Madagascar. It was formerly known as Antankaria madagascariensis. Yes, its species name has changed since 1913.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Antankaria
Species: Antankaria signoreti (Metcalf, 1955)


The image says Antankaria madagascariensis, but its newest name is Antankaria signoreti.

Antankaria genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters, — Length of head about half the breadth between eyes and (including eyes) as wide as base of mesonotum; eyes circular, globular, moderately directed upward; pronotum a little narrowed behind eyes, about as long as mesonotum in front of the cruciform elevation; abdomen longer than space between apex of face and base of cruciform elevation; rostrum reaching posterior coxae ; anterior femora strongly toothed beneath; opercula in type not passing the base of metasternum; tegmina and wings talc-like.

References:

  1. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  2. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

.

Categories
Australia Genera Insectorum Psaltoda Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) W. L. Distant

Psaltoda aurora Distant, 1881

Psaltoda aurora Distant, 1881, is found in Northeastern Queensland Australia and is commonly known as the Red Roarer.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
SubTribe: Cryptotympanina
Genus: Psaltoda
Species: Psaltoda aurora Distant, 1881

Psaltoda aurora Distant, 1881

Psaltoda genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Head including eyes a little wider than anterior margin of pronotum, more than half as long as space between eyes and about as long as pronotum, ocelli on middle of vertex and much farther apart from eyes than from each other, face longer than broad, strongly globose; pronotum shorter than mesonotum including the cruciform elevation, the lateral margins not convexly ampliated but considerably narrowed anteriorly; mesonotum with its base narrower than head including eyes; abdomen considerably longer than broad, beneath more or less obliquely depressed from base to apex;opercula short, not or scarcely passing base of abdomen ; tympana covered; tegmina about three times as long as broad, basal cell longer than broad, apical areas eight ; wings more than half the length of tegmina, apical areas six.

References:

  1. Location information and common name provided by M.S. Moulds’ Australian Cicadas book. 1990. New South Wales University Press.
  2. The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
  3. Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Categories
Borneo Indonesia Johann Illiger Malaysia Michel Boulard Oriental Cicadidae Sumatra Tacua Tacuini (Cryptotympanini) W. L. Distant

Tacua speciosa

The Tacua speciosa is a beautiful cicada native to the countries Malaysia & Indonesia, and the islands Borneo & Sumatra, and likely other islands and nations of the area. Tacua speciosa are well known for their large size, opaque wings, black body, striking yellow/chartreuse pronotal collar, red cruciform elevation, and cyan or yellow tergites. There are two subspecies.

The name speciosa comes from the Latin word “specios” which means beautiful or showy.

Tacua speciosa
Image credit: Alexey Yakovlev, Tacua speciosa (Cicadidae). Borneo. Trusmadi area. 2100 m, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Check out this gallery of Tacua speciosa cicadas, which includes great images like this one:

Tacua speciosa (Illger, 1980) photos from Malaysia. The author of the image wishes to be anonymous.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Cryptotympanini
Genus: Tacua
Species: Tacua speciosa
Subspecies: Tacua speciosa decolorata Boulard, 1994
Subspecies: Tacua speciosa speciosa (Illiger, 1800)

Recently updated Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1

Here is W.L. Distant’s description of this insect from A monograph of oriental Cicadidae:

Body above black ; eyes, anterior pronotal margin (narrowly), posterior margin of pronotum, posterior margin of the third, and the whole of the fourth, fifth and sixth abdominal segments, ochraceous ; basal cruciform elevation red, with its anterior angles black ; body beneath black ; lateral areas and margins to prosternum, a spot at lateral margins of third abdominal segment, and the lateral margins of the fourth, fifth and sixth abdominal segments, ochraceous. Tegmina black, coastal membrane and venation dull reddish, outer margin narrowly creamy-white wings black, the outer margin (excluding anal area) creamy-white. Var. a. Tegmina and wings greyish-brown, the black coloration only observable at margins of the veins. Long.excl.tegm. 47 to 57 millim. Exp.tegm.150 to 180 millim.

Two Distinct Types:

This image comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892.
Tacua speciosa
Which is which in the photos and illustrations on this page? Can you tell?

Normal form (#9 in the image): “Tegmina [forewings] black, coastal membrane and venation dull reddish, outer margin narrowly creamy-white wings black, the outer margin (excluding anal area) creamy-white.”

Variety A (#10 in the image) “Tegmina and wings are greying-brown, the black coloration only observable around the veins.”

Size:

T. speciosa is one of the largest cicadas. According to the Distant’s description above — tegm.[forewings] 150 to 180 millim. That’s 5.9 to 7.1 inches. According to my own collection (I have 2). The male is 160mm (6.3″), and the female is 142mm (5.7″). Both are smaller than the Megapomponia and largest Tosena in my collection. T. speciosa cicadas are big, but not the biggest.

Song:

A video of a singing T. speciosa:

The only document specifically about the T. speciosa I’ve found is Boulard, M. 1994c. Tacua speciosa, variete decolorata n. var. (Homoptera, Cicadidae). Revue Française d’Entomologie. 16: 66. — however, that document usually costs around $60, which I’m not ready to invest in (I’ll spend the money on cicadas).

When and Where

The iNaturalist page for Tacua speciosa shows sightings on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula.

Peak times are March-April.

Illustrations

At one point in time, the Tacua speciosa was one of the most illustrated cicadas:


Original Source: From Dictionnaire universel d’histoire naturelle. (Paris: Renard, 1841-1849) Orbigny, Charles d’, Author.


Original Source: From Animate creation : a popular edition of “Our living world” : a natural history. (New York: Selmar Hess, 1885) Wood, J. G. (John George) (1827-1889), Author.

An Illustration of Tacua speciosa from Genera Insectorum, 1913:

An illustration of Tacua speciosa from An epitome of the natural history of the insects of India : and the islands in the Indian seas by Edward Donovan:
. Note that one of its older names was Cicada indica!

Pop Culture

Pop culture note: this species of cicada was featured on the Wednesday, January 16, 2013 episode of the Daily Show. It is not, however, a 17-year cicada. 🙂 T. speciosa probably has a 2-7 year lifecycle and is not a periodical cicada, but it might be proto-periodical (but most likely is an annual species).