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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Hoppers (Auchenorrhyncha) » Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, and Treehoppers (Cicadomorpha) » Cicadas (Cicadoidea) » Cicadas (Cicadidae)

Family Cicadidae - Cicadas

Classification · Other Common Names · Pronunciation · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Cicada - Magicicada Cicada - Diceroprocta swalei Cicada - Neotibicen cicada - Neotibicen canicularis Molting Cicada - Megatibicen pronotalis Beameria venosa - male Neotibicen - Neotibicen canicularis Cicadoidea
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Auchenorrhyncha (True Hoppers)
Infraorder Cicadomorpha (Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, and Treehoppers)
Superfamily Cicadoidea (Cicadas)
Family Cicadidae (Cicadas)
Other Common Names
Locust, Harvestfly, Jarfly
Pronunciation
several correct pronunciations (Merriam Webster): suh-KAY-duh (sə-ˈkā-də), plural cicadas/cicadae —AUS, CAN, n.USA • suh-KAH-duh (sə-ˈkä-də) —UK, CAN, so. & w.USA
Explanation of Names
Cicadidae Latreille 1802
Type genus: Cicada Linnaeus 1758 (Old World), Latin 'buzzer' (onomatopoeic)
Numbers
172 spp. & 22 subspecies in 18 genera, 8 tribes, and 3 subfamilies in our area(1), >3,400 spp. in >500 genera of 5 subfamilies total(2)
Size
25—50 mm
Identification
see (1)
Range
worldwide
Habitat
Typically deciduous forests but also grasslands
Season
Adults active primarily May―Oct
Food
nymphs feed on plant roots underground • symbiotic X-proteobacteria Hodgkinia cicadicola help the insect get amino acids.(3)
Life Cycle
Males sing loudly during the day to attract mates
Remarks
cicadas do little damage to crops or trees
Cicadas lack a sense of smell, and thus do not have calyces on the mushroom bodies in their brain.
Print References
(4)(5)(6)
Internet References
(7)(8)(9)
Cicadas of Florida fact sheet (Walker & Moore 2014)(10)
Cicada Checklist of Texas (Quinn 2019)
Cicadoidea literature
Cicada Mania —"all things cicada"
Works Cited
1.The Cicadas of North America North of Mexico
Sanborn A.F., Heath M.S. 2017. Entomological Society of America. 302 pp.
2.Catalogue of Life
3.The Insects : Structure and Function
R. F. Chapman. 1998. Cambridge University Press.
4.Catalogue of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) of Continental North America North of Mexico.
Sanborn, A.F. and M.S. Heath. 2012. Thomas Say Publications in Entomology: Mongraphs.; Entomological Society of America, Lanham, MD. 227 pp.
5.Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico.
Sanborn, A.F., and P.K. Phillips. 2013. Diversity 5: 166–239.
6.Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha)
Allen F. Sanborn. 2014. Academic Press (Elsevier Inc.).
7.Simon C. (2015) Cicada Central
8.Cicadas of Michigan
9.InsectSingers.com
10.University of Florida: Featured Creatures
Contributed by Cotinis on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Matthias Buck, Mike Quinn, Ted Kropiewnicki, ceiseman, v belov, Bill Reynolds, Edward Ruden, Marci Hess, Arturo Santos
Last updated 11 January, 2024 - 7:57pm

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