Hey Bill,

This is a primary example of a T. lyricen lacking the extreme infuscation on the forewings. It's close proximity to the western border with Alabama is interesting. Would you consider this a "lowland" T. lyricen var Engelhardti?

Gerry

Gerry,

Regarding infuscation....this trait seems variable in many populations across large areas. Given the locality of Douglasville (a city with which I am familiar), you are looking at the Piedmont Plateau and associated Fall-line Hills...and yes the infuscation varies in this region tremendously, but this is not "lowland".

You might expect greater intergradation and genetic exchange between/among pop's at the interface of differing physiographic regions since they occupy transitional habitats - areas of geographic, climatic & vegetative shifts. However, this cicada is typical of higher elevation pop's of the Piedmont.

To more directly answer your question, I don't know how the various populations interact; we need extensive series from each geographic zone (N to S & E to W transects) to better compare. I also assume interactions will be different across the entire range - greater exchange in some areas and less in others.

With closer scrutiny, we will find one of several scenarios or combo's of scenarios occurring in this complex.
1) T. lyricen is a complex of closely related species with overlap and possible introgression.
2) T. lyricen populations belong to the same species, but some populations may "act" as distinct taxonomic entities in part of the range yet forming blend zones in others ("Ring Species" concept).
3) T. lyricen is composed of populations expressing varying degrees of morphological variance, hence a polymorphic complex, with extreme clinal variations and broad blend zones.
4) Since the lyricen complex shares common ancestry, hence a common pattern & color scheme inherited from that "ancestor", various T. lyricen populations may possess similar typologies derived independently due to environmental factors forcing convergence in color and pattern ("Convergent evolution").

These concepts may seem "out there", but I don't think cicada populations are as easily defined as the current literature suggests. We certainly need to look at newer taxonomic methods in combination with older morphological analysis. Much of what I have discussed above is seen in many different taxa across the Southeast.

A closer comparison to trends observed in other taxa, seemingly mirror a lot of what I am observing in the cicadas. The scope of which goes beyond discussion on this forum.

Thank you for the extra info. Images moved.

The color is distinctive, but this specimen has the widest head of any I have seen.

Thanks for the species confirmation. I really appreciate it.

Yeah, that's what I figured, and I even thought it may be Tibicen lyricen, but I just don't have enough experience with these guys to go for it. :-)

Thanks