A molecular phylogeny and a review of family-group classification are presented for 137 species (ca. 125 genera) of the insect family Cicadidae, the true cicadas, plus two species of hairy cicadas (Tettigarctidae) and two outgroup species from Cercopidae. Five genes, two of them mitochondrial, comprise the 4992 base-pair molecular dataset.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMale periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) infected with conidiospore-producing ("Stage I") infections of the entomopathogenic fungus Massospora cicadina exhibit precisely timed wing-flick signaling behavior normally seen only in sexually receptive female cicadas. Male wing-flicks attract copulation attempts from conspecific males in the chorus; close contact apparently spreads the infective conidiospores.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA morphologically cryptic subspecies of Neotibicen similaris (Smith and Grossbeck) is described from forests of the Apalachicola region of the southeastern United States. Although the new form exhibits a highly distinctive male calling song, it hybridizes extensively where it meets populations of the nominate subspecies in parapatry, by which it is nearly surrounded. This is the first reported example of hybridization between North American nonperiodical cicadas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the last 30 million years, Australia's landscape has undergone dramatic cooling and drying due to the establishment of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and change in global CO$_{2}$ levels. Studies have shown that many Australian organisms went extinct during these major cooling events, while others experienced adaptive radiations and increases in diversification rates as a result of exploiting new niches in the arid zone. Despite the many studies on diversification and biogeography in Australia, few have been continent-wide and none have focused on a group of organisms adapted to feeding on plants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper provides the first faunal checklist for the family Cicadidae (Hemiptera) from Camiguin of Mindanao Province and Dinagat Island in the Philippines, comprising ten species belonging to nine genera. Cryptotympana shillana Lee & Mohagan sp. nov.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDated phylogenetic trees are important for studying mechanisms of diversification, and molecular clocks are important tools for studies of organisms lacking good fossil records. However, studies have begun to identify problems in molecular clock dates caused by uncertainty of the modeled molecular substitution process. Here we explore Bayesian relaxed-clock molecular dating while studying the biogeography of ca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNorth America has a diverse cicada fauna with multiple genera from all three Cicadidae subfamilies, yet molecular phylogenetic analyses have been completed only for the well-studied periodical cicadas (Magicicada Davis). The genus Tibicen Latreille, a large group of charismatic species, is in need of such work because morphological patterns suggest multiple groups with complicated relationships to other genera in the tribe Cryptotympanini. In this paper we present a molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, of 35 of the 38 extant USA species and subspecies of the genus Tibicen together with their North American tribal allies (Cornuplura Davis, Cacama Davis), selected Tibicen species from Eurasia, and representatives of other Eurasian and Pacific cryptotympanine genera.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Pauropsalta generic complex is a large group of cicadas (72 described spp.; >82 undescribed spp.) endemic to Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
April 2013
The evolution of 13- and 17-y periodical cicadas (Magicicada) is enigmatic because at any given location, up to three distinct species groups (Decim, Cassini, Decula) with synchronized life cycles are involved. Each species group is divided into one 13- and one 17-y species with the exception of the Decim group, which contains two 13-y species-13-y species are Magicicada tredecim, Magicicada neotredecim, Magicicada tredecassini, and Magicicada tredecula; and 17-y species are Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini, and Magicicada septendecula. Here we show that the divergence leading to the present 13- and 17-y populations differs considerably among the species groups despite the fact that each group exhibits strikingly similar phylogeographic patterning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The New Zealand (NZ) cicada fauna contains two co-distributed lineages that independently colonized the isolated continental fragment in the Miocene. One extensively studied lineage includes 90% of the extant species (Kikihia + Maoricicada + Rhodopsalta; ca 51 spp.), while the other contains just four extant species (Amphipsalta - 3 spp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne of the major tenets of the modern synthesis is that genetic differentiation among subpopulations is translated over time into genetic differentiation among species. Phylogeographic exploration is therefore essential to the study of speciation because it can reveal the presence of subpopulations that may go on to become species or that may already represent cryptic species. Acoustic species-specific mating signals provide a significant advantage for the recognition of cryptic or incipient species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the biological significance of Pleistocene glaciations requires knowledge of the nature and extent of habitat refugia during glacial maxima. An opportunity to examine evidence of glacial forest refugia in a maritime, Southern Hemisphere setting is found in New Zealand, where the extent of Pleistocene forests remains controversial. We used the mitochondrial phylogeography of a forest-edge cicada (Kikihia subalpina) to test the hypothesis that populations of this species survived throughout South Island during the Last Glacial Maximum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In aggressive mimicry, a predator or parasite imitates a signal of another species in order to exploit the recipient of the signal. Some of the most remarkable examples of aggressive mimicry involve exploitation of a complex signal-response system by an unrelated predator species.
Methodology/principal Findings: We have found that predatory Chlorobalius leucoviridis katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) can attract male cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) by imitating the species-specific wing-flick replies of sexually receptive female cicadas.
Mol Phylogenet Evol
September 2008
Estimation of diversification rates in evolutionary radiations requires a complete accounting of cryptic species diversity. The rapidly evolving songs of acoustically signaling insects make them good model organisms for such studies. This paper examines the timing of diversification of a large (30 taxon) group of New Zealand cicadas (genus Kikihia Dugdale).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSelection against costly reproductive interactions can lead to reproductive character displacement (RCD). We use information from patterns of displacement and inferences about predisplacement character states to investigate causes of RCD in periodical cicadas. The 13-year periodical cicada Magicicada neotredecim exhibits RCD and strong reproductive isolation in sympatry with a closely related 13-year species, Magicicada tredecim.
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