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Neotibicen lyricen (Lyric Cicada)

Order: Homoptera
Family: Cicadidae
Genus: Neotibicen

The magnificent Lyric Cicada, Neotibicen lyricen, has a range that spans the majority of the Atlantic coast states and extends as far north and west as the Great Lakes States (Cicadamania). The lyric cicada is a highly attractive cicada with a predominantly black abdomen and thorax. The thorax features golden embellishments and a golden cross at the border of the abdomen. The head is mottled with green and gold, and accentuated by bronze eyes. The legs and anterior wing veins are bright green while the rest of the wing is transparent and crossed with large dark veins.
The life cycle of the lyric cicada begins as an egg laid on the leaf of a tree (Tripplehorn and Johnson 2005). Upon hatching, the cicada nymph burrows underground to feed on the phloem of the roots of the tree (Whitfield and Purcell 2013; Tripplehorn and Johnson 2005; Cicadamania). Both larval and adult cicadas posses a large beak-like bouth used for piercing plants and sucking. Unlike the seventeen and thirteen year cicadas in the genus Magicada, the lyric cicada is an annual species that emerges as an adult in the early summer (Cicadamania). The mating call of the male cicada is one of the most piercing sounds of the summer (Tripplehorn and Johnson 2005). It is a loud droning created by vibrating the tympanum, a thin membrane stretched across an air-sac in the first abdominal segment, and amplified by the resonating chamber in the abdomen (Tripplehorn and Johnson 2005). Female cicadas respond with a click created by beating their wings (Cicadamania).

Neotibicen lyricen (Lyric Cicada)

Neotibicen lyricen (Lyric Cicada)

Neotibicen lyricen - Close up of wing hinge.

Neotibicen lyricen – Close up of wing hinge.

Neotibicen lyricen - Close up of head and waxy ventrum.

Neotibicen lyricen – Close up of head and waxy ventrum.

Neotibicen lyricen - Discarded larval exuvia.

Neotibicen lyricen – Discarded larval exuvia.

 

Song of the Lyric Cicada
Lyric Cicada Photos on Cicada Mania 
Lyric Cicada on Bugguide.net

 

Sources
(1) Cicada Mania: Cicada Insects, Life Cycle, 17 & 13 Year Cicadas. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from http://www.cicadamania.com/
(2) Marshall, D., & Hill, K. (2015). Cicadas of the United States and Canada. Retrieved December 7, 2015, from http://www.insectsingers.com/100th_meridian_cicadas/index.html
(3) Triplehorn, C., & Johnson, N. (2005). Borror and DeLong’s introduction to the study of insects (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Brooks/Cole.
(4) Borror, D., & White, R. (1970). A field guide to the insects of America north of Mexico. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Whitfield, J., & Purcell, A. (2013). Daly and Doyen’s introduction to insect biology and diversity (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.