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Cicadas - subfamily Cicadinae

This page contains pictures and information about Cicadas in subfamily Cicadinae that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
 
This subfamily includes mostly large cicada species.  
 

Double Drummer
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Thopha saccata,  tribe Thophini, male, female, body length 45mm
Double Drummer Cicadas are the largest cicadas in Australia. They make loudest sound in insect world. They are brown in colour with black pattern. For the males, each side of their abdomen there are a small pockets, the double drum, which are used to amplify the sound they produce. They stay high on the tree and make the sound during the summer days. We have details information about the cicada in this page.
 
 
White Drummer Cicada
Arunta perulata, tribe Thophini, female, body length 40mm
We found this cicada as dead body in Morton Island in mid summer 2001.  This cicada is dark brown in colour. Wings are clear, with two spots near the tip on each forewing. The top edges of forewings are with green veins which joints with a green line across the thorax. We failed to identify this species as White Drummer Cicada because we expected two white drums. We forgot female cicada does not have drums. Lindsay Popple advised us by email that " it looks to be a worn female White Drummer Arunta perulata, which is quite common in Banksias and Casuarinas in Morton Island."
 
 
Clanger, Clear Wing Cicada
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Psaltoda claripennis, tribe Cyclochilini, body length 25-30mm
The cicada has the colour patterns of green on brown and dark brown. Its eyes is pale red in colour. Its wings are clear with green vein. We sometimes find them in Wishart and Karawatha Forest. More pictures and information can be found in here.
 
 
Razor Grinder
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Henicopsaltria eydouxii, tribe Cyclochilini, male, body length 40mm
We found them in Mt Cotton during mid summer. They rest at the lower part of the tall trunk, about 1.5 meters to 3 meters from ground. They produce very loud sound resemble metal grinding. They are dark brown in colour with dark zigzag patterns on front wings veins. The veins near wing edges are also dark in colour. For more pictures and information please click on here
 
 
Brown Bunyip
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Tamasa tristigma, tribe Cicadini, male, female, body length 20mm
Brown Bunyip is one of the most commonly seen cicada in Brisbane. It is light brown in colour with black pattern on thorax. Across the abdomen there are the black, brown and light brown narrow bands. Wings are clear, males have three dark spots on tips of each forewings. They were found trees in our backyard in Eight mile Plains in Brisbane during mid summer. They are small and usually rest on the tree trunks about two meters from ground. Because they often sit in the shadow, togrther with their camouflaged colour, they are not easily seen. Their song is a long continuous low pitch zeep which may continue for minutes. For more information and pictures please click on here.
 
 

Reference:
1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 464.

 
 

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Last updated: September 01, 2009.