Neotibicen tibicen
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| Species: | N. tibicen
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| Neotibicen tibicen (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Neotibicen tibicen also called the swamp cicada or morning cicada, is a medium-sized, dark-bodied annual cicada widespread across much of the eastern and central United States. This species is reproductively active particularly in the morning, hence its common name morning cicada. It used to be widely known as Tibicen chloromerus, but in 2005 the name was changed to Tibicen tibicen because the species was determined to have been described first under this specific epithet.[1] Likewise, the name of this cicada was changed again in July 2015 due to taxonomic reconfiguration and evaluation of genetics and physiology of the genus Tibicen. The genus Tibicen is now restricted to only a few European cicada species. This is the most frequently encountered Neotibicen species because males prefer to sing from low branches of trees. There are two poorly defined subspecies, N. tibicen tibicen and N. tibicen australis. The latter is restricted to peninsular Florida and southern Georgia, while the former is found throughout the eastern and southern United States. N. tibicen is readily confused with Neotibicen lyricen, which is similar in body coloration. N. tibicen is of no economic importance.
Description
N. tibicen is mostly dark-bodied, with some individuals darker than others, reaching almost black, while some individuals are very clearly patterned and brown. This species has many described races and is subject to individual and regional variability. The venter is heavily pruinose, and it lacks the dark medial stripe present in most Neotibicen. The average body length is 33–37 mm. N. tibicen has transparent wings with a slightly brownish tint in some populations. It usually has a black pronotal collar, although some populations may have one that is brownish green or entirely green. Pronotal shoulder patches are large and solid green; the mesonotum is mostly black, although some populations may have a patterned mesonotum with green or reddish brown. The nominate race has two distinctive yellow lines adjacent to each other that almost meet at the ends. N. tibicen has a dorsolateral white pruinose spot where the abdomen meets the thorax. The opercula of the males are unusually long in this species, a characteristic that is very distinctive. N. tibicen australis is usually brightly colored and patterned; individuals are even sometimes mistaken for N. pruinosus because of their coloration and patterning, and barely resemble the nominate race of N. tibicen.
Nymphs are white in coloration and soft-bodied in the early instars, later hardening and darkening in color in the later instars. They vary in size; and with each molt they will grow larger.
Distribution
N. tibicen is widespread and common across the Midatlantic states and the Great Lakes states. It is very common to abundant across the South. It is moderately abundant in the Midwest and vagrant across eastern prairies. It is found into southern New England and has been recorded from southern Canada. N. tibicen becomes less common as one moves west, and it is much more common east of the Mississippi River than west.
This species has been reported from the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.[2] It can be locally abundant in preferred areas.
Individuals from Florida and southern Georgia are N. tibicen australis, the southern dusky-winged cicada. There is a narrow area from southeastern Alabama where N. tibicen individuals are intergrades between this subspecies and the nominate race.
Habitat
This cicada most frequently inhabits deciduous forest, riparian ecosystems, shrubland, upland meadows and; to a lesser extent, eastern tall-grass prairies. Although one of the common names of this species is "swamp cicada", it is rarely associated with swampy areas. N. tibicen can also be found in tall grasses and herbaceous plants adjacent to woodlands and riparian areas. It seems to be associated with most ecosystems, and can also be abundant in urbanized and residential areas with many trees.
This cicada is active from July to August across most of its distribution, however, some areas may vary in emergence to decline dates based upon weather and various other environmental factors. Areas from southern Florida that rarely have frost tend to have a longer season for cicadas, which may be active from as early as June to late as January.
Life cycle
Males of N. tibicen call from branches of trees to females. The males prefer to sing from the tips of branches. N. tibicen prefers to call in the morning from 8 a.m. to noon, with sporadic choruses throughout the day. Males often form large, competitive singing aggregations to woo a female. The call of N. tibicen is a loud rapid chattering, starting off as a syrupy, slow whine, rising to a crescendo, and ending with a rapid chatter. The call lasts 10–15 seconds, making it shorter than the call of other species of Neotibicen cicadas. After finishing his song, the male waits a few seconds for a response from the female. She will click her wings together to respond to him. If there is no response, the male flies away to search for a new mate. After mating the female will lay her eggs in a nearby dead tree branch, using her ovipositor to slit the branch and lay her eggs. A single female may lay as many as 100 eggs, though usually it is less. The eggs will hatch within about 2 weeks, and the small, soft-bodied nymphs fall to the ground and burrow. They will go through five instars to reach adulthood. As nymphs they feed on sap that comes from the roots of trees. The nymphal stage requires about 3–5 years. When the nymphs have reached their last instar, they will emerge when the weather warms in spring and will molt for the last time. The newly emerged adult cicadas are a yellowish-white color and soft-bodied, at this stage they are said to be teneral, or have not yet developed their full color. The adults will dry overnight and fly away by dawn, to rest in a tree and continue the cycle over again. Their brown, dry skins (exuviae) are left behind on tree trunks and other structures, and are a common sight to many people during the summer months. Annual cicadas have generations that overlap, and individuals from the same generation may emerge in different years. Their emergence is not synchronized; therefore, they emerge annually. Periodical cicadas, also called seventeen-year cicadas, have synchronized emergences; therefore, they emerge periodically.
Diet
Adults of N. tibicen feed on sap from trees using their sucking, piercing mouthparts to reach the xylem of a branch. They are not host specific. As nymphs, they feed on sap from the roots of all trees.
Natural predators
Cicadas have many predators because of their relatively few defenses. Numerous mammals, reptilians, birds, and arthropods consume cicadas.
Cicada killer wasps frequently attack Neotibicen cicadas. The female wasp's keen eye scans trees and vegetation in search of prey. After locating a cicada, the wasp stings the cicada, injecting paralyzing venom. The wasp will then drag the paralyzed victim up a tree or post and fly away with it back to her nest. The cicada is buried in an underground burrow along with the wasp's eggs. The wasp's larvae emerge and feed on the living but paralyzed prey, pupate, and emerge the following spring. There is usually one generation of wasps a year.
Certain species of flies are known to be parasitoids of adult N. tibicen, such as some Sarcophagidae in the genus Emblemasoma.[3][4] The female flies have enlarged hearing structures used to detect the call of male cicadas. When a cicada is located the female lands on the host and deposits living larvae. The larvae burrow quickly into the cicada, where they feed, sometimes eating the insect completely and causing its death.
References
- ^ Sanborn, Allen F. (May 2008). "The Identity Of Cicada tibicen Linné [=Tibicen chloromerus (Walker, 1850)] (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae)". Entomol. News. 119 (3): 227–231. doi:10.3157/0013-872X(2008)119[227:TIOCTL]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ http://www.cicadamania.com/downloads/diversity-05-00166.pdf
- ^ Tron, N; Stölting, H; Kampschulte, M; Martels, G; Stumpner, A; Lakes-Harlan, R. "The Auditory System of the Dipteran Parasitoid Emblemasoma auditrix (Sarcophagidae)". J Insect Sci. 16 (1): 90. doi:10.1093/jisesa/iew062. PMC 4989904. PMID 27538415.
- ^ Stucky, BJ. "Eavesdropping to Find Mates: The Function of Male Hearing for a Cicada-Hunting Parasitoid Fly, Emblemasoma erro (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)". J Insect Sci. 16 (1): 68. doi:10.1093/jisesa/iew048. PMC 4932889. PMID 27382133.