Other Common Names
Dog-Day Cicada, Green Cicada, plus variations of all three names...
"Superb Dog-Day Cicada"
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Orig. Comb: Cicada superba Fitch 1855
Identification
More green that any other cicada in our area.
Song - recorded in San Antonio
Range
NM-AR-MO-KS (see references)
Season
July-August in OK (Drew et al. 1974)
May-Aug in TX per records posted here.
Remarks
Song - recorded in San Antonio
See Also
Rarely confused with other species, T. superbus is quite distinct; however, the following list of cicadas is available for quick reference.
"Southern Dog-day Cicadas"
Loosely & informally referred to as the "Southern Dog-day Cicadas" (
"coined", Bill Reynolds), the following taxa are mostly "southern" in distribution and appear to be closely related. These cicadas share several traits, incl. elongated opercula in the males, rapid trill and/or clicking calls, and unusually wide heads relative to body dimension (head widths usu. exceed thoracic widths).
(*appears to be the most divergent member within this group - ??)
"Green Tibicen Species"
Collectively, yet informally, referred to as the "Green Tibicen species" (per. comm.), the following cicadas are often difficult to differentiate and all appear to be very closely related. Genitalic analysis of the males suggest these species are very closely related and morphological differences between and among the species are slight. It is also thought (based on observations) that several of these may be involved in complex hybrid zones; however, more work is needed to substantiate and better understand these observations.
Tibicen pruinosus pruinosus var. fulvus Beamer 1924 [syn. T. pruinosa var. fulva], "Pale Scissor(s) Grinder Cicada"
Print References
Drew, W.A., F.L. Spangler, and D. Molnar. 1974. Oklahoma Cicadidae (Homoptera). Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science 54: 90–97.
Full PDF
Fitch, A. (1855)1854. Report (upon the noxious and other insects of the state of New York). Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society, 14: 705-880.
Froeschner, R.C. 1952. A synopsis of the Cicadidae of Missouri. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 60: 1–14.
Full PDF
Lawson, P.B. 1920. The Cicadidae of Kansas. The University of Kansas Science Bulletin. XII(2): 309-376.
Sanborn, A.F. and P.K. Phillips. 2004. Neotype and allotype description of Tibicen superbus (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Cicadidae) with description of its biogeography and calling song. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 97(4): 647-652.
Taber, S.W. & S.B. Fleenor. 2005. Invertebrates of Central Texas Wetlands. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock. 309 pp.
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