Neotibicen

Neotibicen
Linne's cicada (Neotibicen linnei)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Family:	Cicadidae
Subfamily:	Cicadinae
Genus:	Neotibicen Hill & Moulds, 2015

The genus Neotibicen comprises large-bodied Cicadidae appearing in late summer or autumn in North America. Many colloquial names exist for Neotibicen, including locust, and dog-day cicada. Up until recently, these species were all in the genus Tibicen, which has now been redefined so as to include only a few European species, while species from the Western US and Mexico are now placed in a separate genus, Hadoa.

Neotibicen species are the most common cicada in the Eastern United States. Unlike periodical cicadas, whose swarms occur at 13- or 17-year intervals, Neotibicen species can be seen every year, hence their nickname "annual cicadas". The life-cycle of an individual, however, is more than a year. Nymphs spend two or three years feeding on tree roots before they emerge. Their annual reappearance is due to overlapping generations.

Neotibicen cicadas are 1–2 inches (25–51 mm) long, with characteristic green, brown, and black markings on the top of the thorax, and tented, membranous wings extending past the abdomen. The fore pair are about twice the length of the hind pair. Adults feed using their beak to tap into the xylem of plants; nymphs feed from the xylem of roots.

Communication

Like other members of the subfamily Cicadinae, Neotibicen species have loud, complex songs, even (in many cases) distinct song phrases.

Males produce loud calls in the afternoon or evening (depending on the species) to attract females. These sounds, distinctive for each species, are produced by organs below the abdomen's base. These calls range from a loud buzz to a long rattling sound.

Species

• Neotibicen auletes (Germar, 1834) – Northern dusk singing cicada
• Neotibicen auriferus (Say, 1825) – Field cicada
• Neotibicen bermudianus (Verrill, 1902) – Bermuda cicada, PRESUMED EXTINCT (Last seen 1994)
• Neotibicen canicularis (Harris, 1841) – Dog-day harvestfly
• Neotibicen cultriformis (Davis, 1915) – Southwestern giant floodplain cicada
• Neotibicen davisi davisi (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907) – Davis's southeastern dog-day cicada
• Neotibicen davisi harnedi (Davis, 1918)
• Neotibicen dealbatus (Davis, 1915) – Plains cicada
• Neotibicen dorsatus (Say, 1825) – Bush cicada
• Neotibicen figuratus (Walker, 1858) – Fall Southeastern dog-day cicada
• Neotibicen latifasciatus (Davis, 1915) – Coastal scissor grinder cicada
• Neotibicen linnei (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907) – Linne's cicada
• Neotibicen longioperculus (Davis, 1926)
• Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti (Davis, 1910)
• Neotibicen lyricen lyricen (De Geer, 1773) – Lyric cicada
• Neotibicen lyricen virescens (Davis, 1935)
• Neotibicen pronotalis pronotalis (Walker, 1852) – Walker's cicada
• Neotibicen pronotalis walkeri (Metcalf, 1955)
• Neotibicen pruinosus fulvus (Beamer, 1924)
• Neotibicen pruinosus pruinosus (Say, 1825) – Scissor grinder cicada
• Neotibicen resh (Haldeman, 1852)
• Neotibicen resonans (Walker, 1850) – Southern pine barrens cicada
• Neotibicen robinsonianus (Davis, 1922) – Robinson's cicada
• Neotibicen similaris (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907) – Similar dog-day cicada
• Neotibicen simplex (Davis, 1941)
• Neotibicen superbus (Fitch, 1855) – Superb southwestern cicada
• Neotibicen tibicen australis (Davis, 1912)
• Neotibicen tibicen tibicen (= Tibicen chloromerus) (Linnaeus, 1758) – Swamp cicada
• Neotibicen tremulus (Cole, 2008)
• Neotibicen winnemanna (Davis, 1912) – Eastern scissor grinder cicada

Predators

Many animals feed on cicadas, which usually occurs during the final days when they become easy prey near the ground. One of the more notable predators is the cicada killer. This is a large wasp that catches the dog-day cicada. After catching and stinging the insect to paralyze it, the cicada killer carries it back to its hole and drags it underground to a chamber where it lays its eggs in the paralyzed cicada. When the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae feed on the paralyzed, but still living, cicada.

Gallery

• Tibicen chloromera 2005.jpg

  Emerging N. tibicen, New Jersey, USA

• Malformed Tibicen chloromera.jpg

  Malformed N. tibicen, New Jersey, USA

• 

  Photo series of Neotibicen sp. moulting, Ohio, USA.

• Tibicen husks on fence 01.jpg

  Husks left after moulting

• Mating Tibicen canicularis.jpg

  Mating N. canicularis

• Cicada shell 1.jpg

  Shell after molting, the head was up

• Cicada shell - close up of head.jpg

  Close-up of the head area

External links

• Massachusetts Cicadas
• InsectSingers.com. - acoustic signaling insects

• http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2015/f/zt03985p251.pdf