Okanagana monochroma, a newly described cicada, thrives in a serpentine ecosystem in Northern California.
Read about it in the paper: Smeds, E.A. & Chatfield-Taylor, W. (2025) A new species of Okanagana native to a unique serpentine ecosystem in Northern California (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadidae). Zootaxa, 5636 (3), 487–498.
Here is the abstract from the paper:
Okanagana monochroma sp. nov. is described from a unique and geographically isolated serpentine ecosystem in Northern California. The new species is diagnosed from other Okanagana Distant by a combination of morphological and bioacoustic characters. We provide a description of the calling song, habitat, and host plant associations of O. monochroma sp. nov., and present hypotheses for possible endemism models to explain its remarkably narrow geographic range, which may be the smallest of any North American cicada.
I wonder if the name monochroma refers to the fact that the cicada is almost entirely one color. Serpentine is rock that forms when ultramafic (high in magnesium & iron) magma metamorphosizes with sea water, typically at oceanic vents, sea mounts, and other volcanically active areas on ocean floors. When ocean floors are thrust above continents, we often end up with serpentine rock and soils on dry land. Serpentine rich soils are a challenge for plant life, and they usually lead to unique plants adapted to serpentine. I assume this cicada is adapted to one of these special plants.
A #newspecies of #Okanagana native to a unique serpentine ecosystem in Northern #California (#Hemiptera: #Auchenorrhyncha: #Cicadidae)#taxonomyhttps://t.co/Sef6H1eoXf pic.twitter.com/olqynbjMyn
— Zootaxa updates (@Zootaxa) May 18, 2025