Where it is found: AL, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MS, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, ON, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI
Description: The Lyric cicada, like most small Neotibicen, has a green, black & brown camouflage look, but the key is Lyric cicadas typically have black collars. Its sound is like an angle grinder tool steadily grinding a slightly uneven surface.
These are photographs of the same cicada. On the left, it had recently molted (found on the ground like this). The pastel pink, blue, yellow, and orange colors are striking. An hour and a half later most colors have resolved to browns, except for the wings.
A Neotibicen lyricen lyricen description by Wm T. Davis from 1918 1
Tibicen lyricen (De Geer). PI. VIII, fig. i.
Red Bank, August, 1917, male (J. G. Kizer) ; Logtown, summer.
1917, female (A. Lutken) ; Rienzi, August 23, 1915, male (H. Y. Jumper).
This is a widely distributed insect in the eastern half of the United States, being found from Texas to Florida, and Kansas to Massachusetts. In the higher parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, the variety engcUiardti (Davis) is the pre- vailing form of the species. This is characterized by having the pro- notum and mesonotum nearly all black, except for the somewhat anchor-shaped, tawny spot on the former. It will perhaps be found in the uplands of Mississippi.
The song of lyricen is a rather monotonous zing.
Wm T. Davis’ Identification Key 1
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
B. Uncus longer than broad. Black species with green or greenish markings and black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, except in sayi [Neotibicen tibicen tibicen], and new variety of davisi [Neotibicen davisi].
CC. Hind margin of pronotum or collar black or nearly so (except in sayi var. australis [Neotibicen tibicen australis]).
D. Central area of the abdomen beneath black.
Opercula much shorter, more rounded, and the black area on the under side of the abdomen in the nature
of an even stripe. Uncus not forked. lyricen (De Geer).
Davis, W.T. 1918. Mississippi Cicadas, with a Key to the Species of the Southeastern United States. Journal of The New York Entomological Society. Vol. XXVI. Read on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
Description: The Dark Lyric Cicadas have the darkest coloration of all the Lyric cicadas. Their mesonotum is almost entirely dark brown/black. They have a “soda-pop pull-tab” or keyhole shape on their pronotum.
Wm T Davis’ 1910 description of Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti1
Cicada engelhardti n. sp.
Length: [male] 32 mm., to tip of wings, 50 mm.; [female] 30 mm., to tip of wings 50 mm.
Head black, sometimes with narrow, tawny stripe on front. Pro-thorax black, with small, greenish fulvous central arrow-shaped spot, broadest behind. In lyricen this spot is broadest in front. Posterior and lateral borders of the pronotum black. Mesothorax nearly all black, with two faint parenthesis-like lines of fulvous partly enclos- ing the central portion. Sometimes these lines are heavier and there is a shade of fulvous on the posterior portion of the mesothorax. The inner surface of the front marginal vein is usually back and darker than the same parts in lyricen. Abdomen black above, with two nar- row pruinose lines or spots at base. Beneath, with broad central black stripe and at each side is a broad lateral pruinose border.
This insect is blacker than Cicada lyricen, lacking the considerable amount of fulvous markings of that species, particularly on the pro- thorax.
Identification Key by Wm. T. Davis from 19182
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
B. Uncus longer than broad. Black species with green or greenish markings and black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, except in sayi [Neotibicen tibicen tibicen], and new variety of davisi [Neotibicen davisi].
CC. Hind margin of pronotum or collar black or nearly so (except in sayi var. australis [Neotibicen tibicen australis]).
D. Central area of the abdomen beneath black.
Blacker than typical lyricen, lacking the considerable amount of fulvous markings on the pronotum and mesonotum. A fulvous somewhat anchor-shaped mark centrally on the pronotum.
Davis, W.T. 1910. Observations on Cicada pruinosa and a description of a new species. Entomological News Philadelphia. Vol 21. Pages 457-458. Read on archive.org.
Davis, W.T. 1918. Mississippi Cicadas, with a Key to the Species of the Southeastern United States. Journal of The New York Entomological Society. Vol. XXVI. Read on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
Description: If the cicada has a white X on its back, it is a latifasciatus. Repetitive, rhythmic, call like someone repeatedly running a scissor over a grinding wheel.
Neotibicen latifasciatus was described in 1915 by Davis in the article Notes on Some Cicadas from the Eastern and Central United States with a Description of a New Variety of Cicada Pruinosa in the Journal of The New York Entomological Society. 1
Smith and Grossbeck say of the specimens they had from the coast of New Jersey and which we now know to be a variety: “Abdomen above black, base of first segment with a white, heavily pruinose lateral dash, which encroaches to some extent upon the second segment; a similar but longer and broader lateral dash extends along the base of the third segment and a spot of the same color is on each side of the eighth segment. In the female the dash of the second segment differs from that of the male in not becoming attenuated dorsally, but in being squarely truncated.”
For the variety thus described with the broad white lateral dashes on segment three, we propose the name of latifasciafa. We then have Cicada pruninosa [now Neotibicen pruinosus] as described by Say, with the tergum entirely black or nearly so, with the attenuated white stripe at the lateral base of the third abdominal segment, being the form common from Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, etc., of which we figure a male from Chetopa, Kansas ; Cicada pruinosa var. latifasciata so far known only from the coastal region of the eastern and southern United States, with the broad stripe on segment three and abdomen beneath more shining black, of which we figure a male from Cape May Co., New Jersey, and Cicada pruninosa var. winnemanna [now Neotibicen winnemanna] with the hind margins of the abdominal segments more or less fulvous, the second segment having the band broader than the others and a white streak generally hardly discernible each side at the base of the third segment, of which we figure a male from Plummer’s Island, Maryland. The females of these cicadas have the charactertistic markings far less distinct than in the males and occasionally some are entirely absent.
Identification key by Wm T Davis2
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
B. Uncus longer than broad. Black species with green or greenish markings and black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, except in sayi, and new variety of davisi.
C. Hind margin of pronotum or collar, green or greenish.
Dorsum of abdomen shining black with a broad pruinose mark each side on segment three ; blackened area on under side of abdomen more in the nature of an even stripe.
pruinosa var. latifasciata (Davis.)
(1) Davis, W.T. 1915. Notes on Some Cicadas from the Eastern and Central United States with a Description of a New Variety of Cicada Pruinosa. Journal of The New York Entomological Society. Vol 23, Pages 1-10. Read on archive.org.
(2) Davis, W.T. 1918. Mississippi Cicadas, with a Key to the Species of the Southeastern United States. Journal of The New York Entomological Society. Vol. XXVI. Read on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
Identification keys by Wm. T. Davis from MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. 1
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
B. Uncus longer than broad. Black species with green or greenish markings and black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, except in sayi, and new variety of davisi.
C. Hind margin of pronotum or collar, green or greenish.
Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918:
Abdomen greenish centrally on under side, blackened area
wanting, marginal cells of fore wings clouded.
davisi var. harnedi new variety.
Neotibicen davisi davisi (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907):
An irregular band of black on the under side of the abdomen, head rounded in front ; a rather small species.
davisi (Smith & Grossbeck).
Description of Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918 1:
Tibicen davisi var. harnedi new variety, PI. VII, fig. 4.
Type male, Helena, Arkansas, June, 19 16 (K. D. Jacob). Davis
collection.
Allotype female, Rodney, Jefferson Co., Miss.. August, 1917 (O.
A. Hammett). Collection, Miss. Agri. and Mechanical College.
More robust than typical davisi, with broader wings, the first seven marginal cells of the fore wings being clouded much as in Tibicen superba Fitch. The dorsal markings are quite green in color, the central, green, wedge-shaped mark on the pronotum is not sepa- rated from the hind margin, but is confluent with it; the collar is bright green. The dorsal surface is less rusty in appearance than in typical davisi. Beneath the abdomen is greenish, without the “narrow black portion in the center,” as in typical davisi.
Location and song notes 1:
davisi occurs throughout the southeastern states as far north as New Jersey. Its song- is a continuous z-ing of short duration, and is sharper in tone, though not as loud as that produced by the larger, related black species.
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Neotibicen davisi hardeni Davis, 1918 Name, Location and Description
Description: The davisi comes in a wide variety of colors: from rusty browns to greens. N. davisi hardeni lacking black stripe on abdomen, with green instead. A crown-like pattern on the mesonotum. Sounds like an angle grinder tool, & sounds like N. auriferus & N. canicularis.
Description: The davisi comes in a wide variety of colors: from rusty browns to greens. N. davisi davisi has black on abdomen. A crown-like pattern on the mesonotum. Sounds like an angle grinder tool, & sounds like N. auriferus & N. canicularis.
(1) Davis, W.T. 1918. MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. XXVI, Nos. 3-4. Read it on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
Where it is found: AR, CT, DC, IL, IN, IA, KS, ME, MB, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NB, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, NS, OH, ON, PA, PE, QC, RI, SC, SD, TN, VT, VA, WV, WI
Description: Typical black, brown, beige and green Neotibicen camouflage patterns, but colors can vary. Primary color varies from browns to oranges to greens. Collar is often a mix of green & black. Often pink or green when teneral. Sounds like an angle grinder tool, and like N. auriferus & N. davisi.
Identification Key from
MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. by Wm. T. Davis.
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
B. Uncus longer than broad. Black species with green or greenish markings and black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, except in sayi, and new variety of davisi.
C. Hind margin of pronotum or collar, green or greenish.
A definite longitudinal band of black on the under side of the abdomen ; head with the front rather prominent. Not a large species canicularis (Harris).
Identification notes from Notes on Cicadas from the United States with Descriptions of Several New Species by Wm. T. Davis
This document compares canicularis, davisi, and aurifera. Identifying any of the green/black Neotibicen can be vexing, so these details help.
Canicularis has the central area shining black and ex- tending in the form of an irregular band to the end of the abdomen.
In canicnlaris the collar is green with its front margin often edged with black.
Davis, W.T. 1918. Mississippi Cicadas, with a Key to the Species of the Southeastern United States. Journal of The New York Entomological Society. Vol. XXVI. Read on archive.org.
Davis, W.T. 1916. Notes on Cicadas from the United States with Descriptions of Several New Species. Journal of The New York Entomological Society. Vol. 24. P. 42-65. Read on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
Key to Species by Wm. T. Davis from MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.1
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
BB. Uncus broad at the base, triangular in shape and generally about as broad as long. Opercula broad and rounded at the extremities no definite black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, usually unicolorus.
E. Wings long and narrow, collar 2 mm. or less in breadth at central portions ; dorsum of abdomen black or nearly so.
Basal cell of fore wings rusty in color, anal cells (membranes) of both pair of wings gray; usually expands 110 mm. or more resonans (Walker).
Davis, W.T. 1918. MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. XXVI, Nos. 3-4. Read it on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
Resh Cicadas are named for the markings on their back (pronotum) that resemble the Hebrew letter Resh.
Key to Species by Wm. T. Davis from MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.1
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
BB. Uncus broad at the base, triangular in shape and generally about as broad as long. Opercula broad and rounded at the extremities no definite black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, usually unicolorus.
EE. Wings broad, hind margin of the pronotum or collar green or greenish and more than 2 mm. broad.
FF. Anal cells or membranes at base of fore and hind wings light orange, two prominent marks on the mesonotum resembling the Hebrew letter resh inverted.
Fore wings with the first and second cross veins clouded, and the dorsum of the abdomen brownish or brownish black resh (Haldeman).
Davis, W.T. 1918. MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. XXVI, Nos. 3-4. Read it on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
There’s two sub-species of Megatibicen pronotalis: Megatibicen pronotalis pronotalis Davis — found in IA, MO, NE, ND, OK, SD — and Megatibicen pronotalis walkeri Metcalf — found in AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, NC, ND, OH, OK, SD, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI, and WY.
Description: Tan or pea green, brown, black, and sometimes white pruinose. Wing color matches dominant color of body. Typically lacks a black marking on its pronotum.
Key to Species by Wm. T. Davis from MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.1
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
BB. Uncus broad at the base, triangular in shape and generally about as broad as long. Opercula broad and rounded at the extremities no definite black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, usually unicolorus.
EE. Wings broad, hind margin of the pronotum or collar green or greenish and more than 2 mm. broad.
FF. Anal cells or membranes at base of fore and hind wings light orange, two prominent marks on the mesonotum resembling the Hebrew letter resh inverted.
Fore wings with the first and second cross veins but faintly or not at all clouded and the abdominal segments margined posteriorly with brown. In fresh specimens there is usually a median row of white spots on the dorsum of the abdomen, .marginalis (Walker).
A teneral (soft) and sclerotized (hard) Megatibicen pronotalis walkeri
Davis, W.T. 1918. MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. XXVI, Nos. 3-4. Read it on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
A description from NOTES ON CICADAS FROM THE UNITED STATES WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVERAL
NEW SPECIES by Wm T. Davis
Cicada figurata Walker.
This species was described [by Walker] in 1858 in List of the Specimens of Homopterous Insects in the collection of the British Museum, Supplement, p. 19. Unfortunately no locality was given. The description in part is as follows: ” Black, mostly tawny beneath. Head with a large tawny spot on each side in front between the eyes. . . . Pro- thorax reddish, black in front and behind, with a double tawny stripe; border tawny, with a black streak on each side. Mesothorax with four oblique tawny stripes; the middle pair recurved inward; the lateral pair enclosed at each of their tips by a lateral tawny streak; sides and hind ridges tawny. Legs tawny. Wings vitreous. Fore wings narrow, much acuminated testaceous at the base, and with a testaceous streak along the sixth discoidal areolet ; primitive areolet black; veins piceous; costa testaceous to the tip of the front areolet; first and second transverse veins slightly curved, clouded with black.
Song and morphological descriptions by Wm. T. Davis from MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES2
A. Large, heavy bodied species ; head broad, uncus simple, and first cross vein in the fore wings starting from radius 3 far back, or about one third distant from base of first marginal cell.
BB. Uncus broad at the base, triangular in shape and generally about as broad as long. Opercula broad and rounded at the extremities; no definite black area on the central part of the abdomen beneath, usually unicolorus.
E. Wings long and narrow, collar 2 mm. or less in breadth at central portions; dorsum of abdomen black or nearly so.
Basal cell of fore wings often black or nearly so, anal cells of both pair of wings yellowish. Expands about 100 mm figurata (Walker)
A teneral (soft) and sclerotized (hard) M. figuratus
Davis, W.T. 1916. NOTES ON CICADAS FROM THE UNITED STATES WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVERAL
NEW SPECIES. Journal of the New York Entomological Society. Vol. XXlV, No. I.
Davis, W.T. 1919. MISSISSIPPI CICADAS, WITH A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. XXVI, Nos. 3-4. Read on archive.org.
Full Binomial Names: ITIS.gov
Common names: BugGuide.net; The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Herschberger; personal memory.
Locations: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico by Allen F. Sanborn and Polly K. Phillips.
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.
