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Photo#260917
Tibicen pruinosus - Neotibicen pruinosus - male

Tibicen pruinosus - Neotibicen pruinosus - Male
Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Alabama, USA
Tibicen pruinosus (Male)
Tuscumbia, Colbert Co., Alabama
coll. M. Reynolds (w/ B. Reynolds & G. Reynolds)

Diagnostics such as the "line bisection test" & "wing node position" used to separate T. linnei from T. pruinosus in the Midwest - seems to be challenged when applied to "T. pruinosus/winnemanna" (+ other taxa) in parts of the Southeast (& Atlantic Coast). I have noticed that while the point of bisection varies in T. winnemanna and T. pruinosus from the upper mid-South, it nearly always bisects the designated wing cell somewhere across the last half or third. This point of bisection is often very near, on the point of coalescence, and in some cases even anterior to the point of coalescence between the C (costal vein) & SC (subcostal) - a characteristic predicted for T. linnei. Midwestern conventions and use of this test suggest little if any bisection of the designated wing cell at all in members of the pruinosus group.

PLEASE REFER to the following reference site: incl. Specimen Key with images (9)
Key to the Cicadas of Michigan

In support of the test, the point of bisection is "relatively consistent" in most T. linnei and crosses the halfway point nearly everytime either on the point of coalescence (in females) or anterior to the point of coalescence (usu. males).

NOTE: Some variation exists between males and females of T. linnei and among populations of T. linnei. The "line bisection test" is not an ABSOLUTE. Even for T. linnei, there have been populations and isolated specimens which DO NOT conform nor meet the expected test results!

Although this test has some support and validity in the upper Midwest, it is of little use if you wish to separate female specimens of T. winnemanna, T. pruinosus and T. linnei collected below the Mason-Dixon Line. Using this character and test, as a stand alone deciding factor, may result in erroneous identification.

Examples from this locality



Tibicen pruinosus, Male: Lateral view
Tuscumbia, Colbert Co., Alabama (Aug 2008)

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