Archived content - Cicada (35 of 46)
Archived content is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.
C. A Fascinating Fauna(Continued)
Cicada species occurring in more than one region of the world are marked with an asterisk (*).
10E. *Banded Cicadas (Diceroprocta)
Banded Cicadas (genus Diceroprocta): head 8.5-10 mm wide, as wide as thorax (as in Tibicen, with which it was formerly combined) with eyes prominent; yellow 'collar' between bases of wings (across hind margin of pronotum) contrasting with otherwise dark upper side of body; marked with black bars on two crossveins near tip of each forewing; tymbals concealed; both sexes with large, pale opercula, at base of abdomen; male terminal segment with small, forked uncus and short hypandrium; theca slender, ending in expandable vesica armed with three irregularly placed hooks. Nymph slender, greenish.
This new world genus has numerous species, mostly tropical. It is in need of revision. Only one species occurs naturally in northern North America; a second is an occasional import with potted plants.
Diceroprocta vitripennis (Say), (?= Cicada reperta Uhler, C. erratica Osborn, "D. viridifascia" of authors), * Seaside Cicada
Adults: Head 8.5-9 mm wide; overall length (wings folded) 3.5-4 cm; male opercula blunt-tipped, projecting 6-7 mm beyond hind leg base, that of female only 2 mm long. Black mottled with red-brown on thorax, with 'collar' and opercula rounded, contrasting yellow; underneath "floury" male uncus with V-shaped notch between lower processes.
Song: A continuous, fast and soft zit zit zit zit
Range: Arizona to Florida, north along the Mississippi drainage basin to Illinois, east to southwestern Michigan. A similar but more boldly marked form on the southern Atlantic coast has been called "D. viridifascia (Walker)", but as that species was described from a small specimen with three teeth on the front leg, it belongs to quite another genus of the subfamily Cicadettinae; nor is there any reason to think that it is a North American insect. This coastal form may be D. reperta.
Diceroprocta apache (Davis), Desert or Citrus Cicada
Adults: Head 8.5-10 mm wide; overall length (wings folded) 3.5-4 cm; opercula as in D. vitripennis, but in male tapered to pointed tips. Red-brown to blackish-brown, with "collar" and male opercula triangular, contrasting ivory; underneath tan with darker abdomen; male uncus with flat-bottomed notch between lower processes.
Song: A continuous, even toned, moderately shrill note Footnote 1.
Range: Southwestern USA; known in Canada from occasional specimens that emerge from the soil of potted trees. One such record is from rural Ontario. The native host in California and Arizona appears to be mesquite, but it commonly lays eggs in citrus trees and palms, and has been reported to damage asparagus.
See The North America Genera and Picture Guide
Report a problem on this page
- Date modified: