Okanagana Cicada in Sacramento, CA

Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-07-20 | Website:

Hi Laure,

Thanks for the photos. First off, to explain why the cicada was clinging to your shirt no doubt was probably because it was attracted to the sound of the lawn-mower. Since this cicada is female (I can tell its female by the thin black ovipositor located on the underside of the abdomen in the first photo) it mistook the sound of your lawnmower for a potential calling male cicada. I have witnessed the behavior many times when operating power mowers or weed wackers when doing yard work outside.

With regards to species. At first glance, I too want to say that this is O. rimosa but there are other morphological features that could possibly make this specimen O. bella. I'm not sure if its because of the shots or what but typically O. rimosa will exhibit thin orange bands on the tergites of the abdomen on the dorsal view and I'm not really seeing them here. Still though that could just be a slight morphological variation with species of O. rimosa from the west.

I recently wrote an article on morphological features of O. rimosa. You can find the link to that article either from the home page or clicking on the Projects tab above.

In doing research for the range of O. rimosa, they pretty much can be found on both coasts of the United States and in between as well. In fact, I think that cicadas from the Genus Okanagana or more abundant in North America than the Tibicens. I would cautiously identify this specimen as O. rimosa.

Thanks for sharing.

Posted By: Laure Ruhmann | On: 2011-07-22 | Website:

It's really amusing to think the cicada was attracted to the sound of the lawnmower. I'll have to try mowing again to see what happens.

I had ruled out O.bella after seeing a photo of the underside of a female on the Cicada Mania website. There was a lot more black on the abdomen, but my species was solid orange, other than the black ovipositor.

http://www.cicadamania.com/pictures/main.php?g2_itemId=3165

I also saw the article on the morphological features of O.rimosa on your facebook page and will read through it to learn more about our cicada friends. I'm glad I can help your research.

Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-07-22 | Website:

Hi Laure,

First off it is important to note that the photo on Cicadamania is actually that of a male specimen of O. bella not female.

In retrospect, I got to thinking about your specimen after I posted my comment and searched in the archives of this web site and found an article where I compared morphological features of O. rimosa to O. bella. The link can be found below just copy and paste it into your browser address bar:

http://www.masscic.org/cicadas101/cicadas_details.php?aid=83

After reviewing that article and looking at many specimens of O. rimosa in my collection I do feel confident in agreeing that this is indeed an O. rimosa specimen.

Posted By: Laura Ruhmann | On: 2011-07-22 | Website:

Thank you for pointing out the mis-labeling of the O.bella as a female instead of a male on Cicadamania. You may want to send them a note so it doesn't confuse future researchers.

I looked up your article and compared the O.bella and O.rimosa side-by-sides to my specimen and will agree on O.rimosa for another trait I can see; that is in the head.

The O.bella has a "bullet-shaped" curve to it's head and the eyes are set more flush with the curve of the head. The O.rimosa has a somewhat flat-face and definite "bug-eyes", where the eyes are more prominently pronounced--the same as the features in my specimen.

Thanks again for helping me research this cicada. I hope to do a write-up in my garden blog within the next couple of weeks.

Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-07-22 | Website:

No problem Laure,

Glad I could help.