Dark Lyric Cicada, T. lyricen f. engelhardti

This color form (not a valid race or subspecies) is concentrated along the App. Mountains extending south into central Georgia and c. Alabama; east and west to the fall-line hills of the Piedmont and Cumberland Plateaus; and north into s. New England (s. Mass.).

This form is replaced by the lighter f. lyricen in the Southeast usually below 300 ft. elev. However, engelhardti is recorded at or near sea level in the extreme northeast (NY into New England) where the "higher elevation" is replaced by cooler climates in higher latitudes.

The darker pigmentation in this form may be an adaptation to cooler environments and play a role in thermoregulation (not known for certain, but logical).