The Cicadas of Florida (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae)
Author
Sanborn, Allen F.
Author
Phillips, Polly K.
Author
Gilllis, Philip
text
Zootaxa
2008
1916
1
43
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.274559
95be8ece-0676-4e15-872e-05801c9edf88
1175-5326
274559
Tibicen similaris
Davis
(Figs. 10, 121–129)
Cicada similaris
Smith & Grossbeck 1907
: 125
.
Type
locality: Fernandina, Nassau County, Florida.
Holotype
male is in the
United States
Natural Musuem (
Sanborn 1999
).
Adults are active through the summer into the fall. They first emerge in early to mid-June and can be heard singing until late October. The most common collection dates are in August. No analysis of the song has been published but it begins as a low constant buzzing followed by a slow vibrato, then a fast paced vibrato before terminating in a constant buzz (personal observation).
Tibicen similaris
has an expansive distribution primarily in the north and central regions of the state being collected in most of the subdivisions of the Southeastern Plains and Southern Coastal Plains ecoregions (Fig. 10). The 28 counties where it has been collected are Alachua, Brevard, Duval, Escambia, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Jackson, Jefferson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Seminole, St. John’s, Sumter, Suwannee, Volusia, and Wakulla. The species is not found in the Everglades.
As this work is being revised for final submission, a new species of
Tibicen
near
T. similaris
has been found by K. Hill and D.
Marshall
of the University of Connecticut. The new species has a significantly different song but morphological affinities to
T. similaris
. The new species is found within the Apalachicola region of Florida and
Georgia
(Hill and
Marshall
, personal communication).