Tibicen pruinosus in Topeka, KS
Sightings Category: Cicadas
Tibicen pruinosus in Topeka, KS
There really isn't a need to post this but since I have them I might as well do so. These two are Tibicen pruinosa(pruinosus). The male is to the left with a female to the right.
I also have a question, are they called T. pruinosa or T. pruinosus since I see them written as both?
Date Posted: 2011-07-22 Comments: (3) Show Comments Hide Comments
Comments
Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-07-22 | Website:
Hey Jimmy
Great photos of a male and female pair of T. pruinosus. Every photo that is submitted no matter how unimportant you may think it is, is still very important for our distribution database is very much appreciated. I am curious, did you pick these up as a mated pair? It would be interesting if you can get the male to call in captivity. It would be interesting to observe the pair formation. Be advised that when cicadas are that close in proximity, male calling may not be necessary for cicadas to mate so if they haven't mated yet, you'll need to watch them closely.
Regarding your question T. pruinosa vs. T. pruinosus. Actually the name change has been in effect for several years now. Basically what it is that any Tibicen species of cicada that ended in the letter "a" must get changed to "us". With the exception of T. winemanna because aparently that species was named after a town so it doesn't count.
The reason for the name change is Apparently the term "Tibicen" is a Latin word in the "masculine" but the "a" in pruinosa is feminine so apparently this is wrong and any species with a "masculine" genus and the species ends in "a" should be changed to "us" making it also masculine.
So for instance T. dorsata becomes T. dorsatus, T. dealbata becomes T. dealbatus and so one and so forth. Hope that helps.
Posted By: Jimmy Wu | On: 2011-07-23 | Website: http://www.youtube.com/user/mantisman630
I did not obtain the two as a mating pair, they still have not mated yet and I'm trying to get the male to call by playing a recording of other males. There is one interesting thing though, the male pruinosus is clambering onto the back of my T. lyricen and making more moves towards the female lyricen than the female pruinosus for some odd reason. Anyways thanks for explaining the scientific naming though, I've always had a question about it but no one really had a good answer.
Posted By: Massachusetts Cicadas | On: 2011-07-23 | Website:
You THINK they may have not mated yet. It's just that you haven't been watch them 24/7. Like I stated previously, male calling does not seem to be a prerequisite for mating if males and females are in close proximity.
Interesting about the T. pruinosus bothering the T. lyricen. A colleague of mine had a T. linnei copulate with a T. canicularis in a cage.
Having captures specimens definitely alters their behavior.
I had female T. canicularis cicadas oviposit in dead branches in a terrarium. I can only assume that they mated with the males inside the enclosure. It should also be noted that these were taken as tenerals. (Newly molted cicadas).