Those noisy Sydney - the M.S. Moulds Australian Museum, 6 College St, Sydney NSW 2010 Sydney is one of the few cities in the world where large, very Chlorocysta vitripennis and the Bladder Cystosoma noisy cicadas reside in the heart of suburbia. Most obvious is saundersii, both unusual among Sydney cicadas because the the Greengrocer, australasiae, whose song heralds males have bulbous inflated abdomens (Moulds 1990). the coming of warm sunny days (Appendix 1). It occurs Twenty six described species in 13 genera are recorded also in a yellow form, the Yellow Monday, and rarely in from the Sydney basin but more than this number remain turquoise, the Blue Moon. This species has adapted well to undescribed. Many of these are small and inconspicuous exotic trees and, despite losing much of its natural habitat, species with high pitched quiet songs. In fact Australia’s has managed to maintain much of its original distribution smallest cicada, Drymopsalta daemeli is found widely in through suburban Sydney. Even in Colonial times Sydney Sydney bushland. It has a wingspan below 25 mm and its cicadas seem to have been unavoidably noticeable and had song is so quiet one must have excellent hearing and no Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2643795/fs_2010_018.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 colourful vernacular names. Bennett (1860) comments “ background noise to detect it. In contrast, Sydney is also . . (in spite of birds and boys) every tree is enlivened by home to Australia’s largest cicada, Thopha saccata. The their incessant music” and he writes of Millers, Bakers, the largest known specimen has a wingspan of 151 mm and Orange-locust and Lamplighters. According to Bennent the species probably has the loudest call of any Australian Lamplighters were so named because of the “three ruby- cicada. Unlike , however, T. saccata coloured spots in the front of the head” (= ocelli) that I has not adapted to suburban life and is now only found in suppose do look somewhat like glowing embers. Bennett natural stands of large eucalypts. was the first to document the calls of the different species The 30 or more undescribed species found around Sydney writing delightful descriptions such as “Sometimes a are testament to the state of cicada in Australia. prolonged note of Alrite, alrite, alrite, is heard, varied to However, the difficulties and impediments are slowly Ohoé, ohoé, ohoé, the last note being prolonged, followed being addressed and the next decade should see many of by Whocky, whocky, whocky, in very shrill tones; then the these species described. Ziz, ziz, ziz, continues for some time, followed by a sound of Yoicky, yoicky, yoicky; after which the din suddenly ceases.” References Perhaps not surprisingly, the first Australian cicada to be named was described from Sydney but not until 1803. Bennett, G., 1860. Gatherings of a naturalist in Australasia: being This was the Double Drummer, Thopha saccata (Fabricius observations principally on the and vegetable productions of New South Wales, New Zealand, and some of the Austral Islands. 1803) but the type locality was given as ‘China’ and it John van Voorst, London. Pp. i-xii, 1-456. was not until 1850 that Francis Walker of the British Museum corrected the error. Another error of similar Fabricius, J.C., 1803. Systema Rhyngotorum secundum vain concerns the type locality of another well known ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonyms, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus. Pp. i-x, 1-314, index 1-21. Sydney cicada, the Cherrynose, Macrotristria angularis. This species was described by Germar (1834) from ‘Sierra Germar, E.F., 1834. Observations sur plusieurs espèces du genre Leone’, a situation further confused when Kirkaldy (1907) Cicada, Latr. Revue d’Entomologique Silbermann 2: 49-82, pls 19-26. erroneously recorded the species from Fiji. Gu érin-Méneville, F.E., 1830-38. Insectes. In: L.I. Duperrey, Voyage autour du monde, exécuté par ordre du Roi, sur la corvette Two years after the description of Thopha saccata, Donovan de sa Majesté, La Coquille, pendant les années 1822, 1823, 1824 et (1805) named the second Australian species, Cyclochila 1825, sous le ministère et conformément aux instructions de S.E.M. le australasiae in his beautifully illustrated Insects of New Marquis de Clermont-Tonnerre, Ministre de la Marine; et publié sous Holland. The naming of most other large Sydney cicadas les auspices de son Excellence Mgr le Cte de Chabrol, Ministre de la followed soon afterwards; the Black Princess, Psaltoda Marine et des Colonies. A. Bertrand, Paris. Text; Zoologie 2(2), harrisii, by Leach (1814) in his iconic Zoological Miscellany, Division 1, pp. 57-302. Zoologie Atlas; Insects, pls 1-21. the White Drummer, Arunta perulata and the Razorgrinder, Kirkaldy, G.W., 1907. Leaf-hoppers—Supplement (.) Henicopsaltria eydouxii, by Guérin-Méneville (1830-38) Bulletin of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association, Division of from specimens collected during the voyage of La Coquille Entomology 3: 1-186, i-ii, pls 1-20. and the Red Eye, Psaltoda morens by Germar (1834) and Leach, W.E., 1814. The zoological miscellany; being descriptions the Black Prince, Psaltoda plaga by Walker (1850). All these of new, or interesting . Vol. l. Nodder & Son, London. Pp. species remain abundant around Sydney although, no 1-144, pls 1-60. [Index (pp. 139-144), published 1815]. doubt, less so than at their time of description. Moulds, M.S., 1988. The status of Cicadetta and Melampsalta By 1912 all but one of the now described species from (Homoptera: ) in Australia with the description of two Sydney had been named. Only Cicadetta celis (Moulds new species. General and Applied Entomology 20: 39-48. 1988) has been described since. This small species, now Moulds, M.S., 1990. Australian Cicadas. New South Wales widespread and common throughout much of suburban University Press, Kensington. 217 pages, 24 plates. Sydney, inhabits Callistemon and Melaleuca and appears to Walker, F., 1850. List of the specimens of homopterous insects be a recent introduction from Victoria or southern NSW. in the collection of the British Museum. Part 1. British Museum, Two other recent introductions are the Small Bottle Cicada London. Pp. 1-260.

Pp227 - 233 in The Natural History of Sydney, edited by Daniel Lunney, Pat Hutchings and Dieter Hochuli. Royal Zoological Society of NSW, Mosman, NSW, Australia. 2010 Moulds

The black prince, Psaltoda plaga, is often found in she-oaks, especially the river she-oak, Casuarina cunninghamiana. It occurs abundantly along the New South Wales coast and is locally common around Sydney. Adults are black or blackish in appearance with a patch of silver pubescence on each side of the abdomen. It is readily distinguished from the closely allied P. harrisi by its larger size and the presence of a blackish Z-shaped APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX infuscation near the apex of the fore wings (absent from P. harrisii). Photo, author. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2643795/fs_2010_018.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

The cherrynose, Macrostristria angularis, is so named because of its red ‘nose’. However, this prominent red structure is not a nose but a housing for the strong muscles that enable the cicada to suck xylem from trees. Like other insects, cicadas breathe through spiracles (small holes) in the thoracic and abdominal segments. The spiracles lead to a complex network of tubes, the tracheae, that disperse oxygen throughout the body. Photo, David Gray.

228 The natural history of Sydney Cicadas

The razor grinder, Henicopsaltria eydouxii, is usually found in dry and wet sclerophyll forests where large gum trees grow close together. In some years populations can be immense although they tend to be local. In other years the adults can be almost totally absent. They are most common during December and January. Photo, author. APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2643795/fs_2010_018.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

Adults feed on xylem sucked up through their long, straw-like rostrum. Many species spend a great deal of time feeding and can be so occupied for three hours or more each day during hot weather. Like the alimentary canal of some of their close relatives, that of cicadas possesses a specialised filter chamber for the purpose of concentrating nutrients from the xylem. Photo, Densey Clyne.

The natural history of Sydney 229 Moulds

Flight is often cumbersome and usually is not sustained for longer than a few seconds. Flights longer than a minute are rare although some species can fly for several minutes if pressed. The fore and hind wings are hooked together during flight by a grooved coupling along the hind wing costa and fore wing claval margin. The hind wings lack power-producing flight muscles and all the power of movement is transmitted from the fore wings via APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX the coupling. Photo, Jim Frazier. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2643795/fs_2010_018.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

This greengrocer, Cyclochila australasiae has just emerged from its nymphal skin. The wings have been expanded but are still soft and have not yet attained the final rich green pigmentation of the adult. Emergence usually occurs at night although a few species such as the double drummer, Thopha saccata, emerge during daylight hours. Photo, David Hain.

230 The natural history of Sydney Cicadas

The double drummer, Thopha saccata, is Australia’s largest cicada species. The males possess greatly expanded timbal covers, which are rounded in shape and protrude prominently. It is from these structures that the cicada takes its common name. Thopha saccata is sometimes abundant around Sydney in areas of eucalypt forest. The song is particularly loud and resembles a constant whine. When populations are high the noise is almost unbearable to APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX be near. Photo. David Gray. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2643795/fs_2010_018.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

The red eye, Psaltoda moerens, is sometimes common around Sydney where its favoured host, Angophora costata, grows. In some years populations can be immense with many thousands inhabiting just a few trees. The song is very distinctive and once heard is not easily forgotten. It consists of a continuous note interspersed with periods of yodel- like revving. Photo, author.

The natural history of Sydney 231 Moulds

The cherry nose, Macrotristria angularis, is a species that confines itself to dry sclerophyll forest where adults favour the trunks and upper branches of tall eucalypts. Consequently the species is becoming less common around Sydney. However, the species has a wide distribution from north-eastern Queensland to south-eastern South Australia. Photo, David Gray. APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2643795/fs_2010_018.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

The greengrocer, Cyclochila australasiae, is unusual in that it also occurs in a yellow form (yellow Monday), a rare turquoise form (blue moon) and a form with a black abdomen and black markings often common in the Blue Mountains (masked devil). The species is also unusual in that it has adapted remarkably well to suburban situations. It is now more common in the suburbs of Sydney than it is in surrounding native bushland. Suburban trees favoured include most eucalypts, angophoras, brush box, silky oak, liquidambar, weeping willow, poplar, camphor laurel, jacaranda and English oak, but it is not unusual to find adults inhabiting almost any suburban tree. Photo Julie Sturges.

232 The natural history of Sydney Cicadas

The song of the razor grinder, Henicopsaltria eydouxii, is a loud, coarse call resembling the grinding of metal from which the species takes its common name. Although singing can occur at any time of the day, dusk is the time most favoured. Photo, G. May. APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2643795/fs_2010_018.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

The natural history of Sydney 233