The Cicadas of Fraser's Hill
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I N S E C T S raser’s Hill is well known for the great biodiversity of its rainforest including hundreds The Cicadas of Fraser’s Hill of different kinds of trees that Text and photos by Preston Murphy provide a home for count- less wildlife. The birdlife is well known andF butterflies, moths and spiders have In Nature Watch 19(3), we provided a presentation of Mammals of Fraser’s been gaining attention. For a number of Hill. In this issue, Preston Murphy puts his scientific mind to work on years my friends and I have been using a bright light to attract the great emperors another fascinating group of animals, the cicadas. and other moths from the night forest, and we have always noticed the occa- sional cicada that makes a noisy entrance among the quiet moths. While cicadas are rarely seen, their mating calls con- stitute a large part of the insect chorus that fills the tropical forest both day and night. In Europe, cicadas are loved as harbingers of summer vacations along the Mediterranean sea coast. However, most species are found in the tropics, especially South-east Asia with some 850 species (including ~115 in Peninsular Malaysia) out of some 2,500 species worldwide. A recent book, The Cicadas of Thailand Boulard (2006) tempted me to first document and then try to identify the cicadas of Fraser’s Hill. The books Birds of Thailand and Butterflies of Thailand are valuable guides for most of the Malaysian species, so why not the cicadas? So I set about the task. In the A large and conspicuous cicada Tacua speciosa calling during the daytime along the Old daytime when cicadas are calling, you can Road from the Gap to Fraser’s Hill. Photo Morten Strange. examine the tree trunks and bare branch- es with binoculars to find the caller and Many nocturnal cicadas are attracted to light and can be even occasionally spot the flying insect. And of course at nighttime they are photographed with ease. Their wings are mostly transparent attracted to light. and patterned with dark veins, while the bodies of black, After some time, with my photo- brown, or green are decorated according to species. graphs and a provisional identification list in hand I searched the web for specialists in tree species or soil composition. As truly king of the diurnal cicadas! who could help me verify my initial iden- a result, some 80% of Thai cicadas are Tosena fasciata lives in the same tifications and sent a note to Tomi Trilar stopped at the Kra Isthmus in Thailand region and the males show an orange in Slovenia. He forwarded my request and cannot be found further south. body when calling whee-z-z-z. Recently to Hans Dufels in Amsterdam, Holland, Sunny periods will tempt cicadas we have found his cousin, T. depicta who who is curator of one of the largest col- to call, giving the opportunity for good calls: zzzzz-tk-tk-tk. Trengganua sibylla lections of South-east Asian cicadas. views. The beautiful Tacua speciosa can (green and black in colour) prefers the Hans kindly received me on a visit at be found in forests from 1300 meters lower altitude (~700m) forest along the the museum, but he surprisingly had to altitude at Fraser’s down to at least 600 Gap-to-Raub road. This one calls in correct most of my species identifications m. Its booming ‘wind-up’ sounding call mixed-species groups with the lovely based on the Thai book. rrrrr-ang is unmistakable. While calling Gaena festiva. Sibylla shows bright yel- Adult cicadas do fly but only short the male arches his back and slides his low hind-wings in flight and might be Dr. Murphy in the field taking photographs of nocturnal insects using a portable generator distances, they tend to remain near their black wings away to show a light cobalt confused with a Malaysian Birdwing to produce light. Photo Vilma D’Rozario. ‘home’ trees. Not only do bodies of water blue abdomen, while a vibrating organ, butterfly. All of the above are rather large block any migration, but so do changes called a tymbal, produces his call. He is and colourful. 12 Nature Watch Oct - Dec 2011 Oct - Dec 2011 Nature Watch 13 Two tiny cicadas may be seen on the CICADAS OF FRASER’S HILL leaves of plants and bushes: Mogannia As seen and photographed by Dr. Preston Murphy sessioides has a cone-shaped head and beautiful gold and green body with dark Order: Hemiptera Family: Cicadidae red stripes; while Heuchys fusca, the only 1 2 3 4 5 species to be found of the Cicadettinae subfamily, is chocolate brown with yellow decoration. Other diurnal cicadas such Editor’s note: Dr. Murphy’s main refer- as the Chremistica prefer to call from the ence was a report by Zaidi et al from a canopy and are rarely seen unless they are November 2000 expedition to Fraser’s attracted to light. Hill Bukit Fraser: Persekitaran Fizikal, Many nocturnal cicadas are attracted Biologi dan Sosioekonomi. This report to light and can be photographed with was made available to him by Azman 6 7 8 9 10 ease. Their wings are mostly transparent Suliaman of the National University of and patterned with dark veins, while the Malaysia (UKM). The relevant chapter is bodies of black, brown, or green are deco- “Cicada [Homoptera: Cicadoidea] Fauna rated according to species. However, they of Fraser’s Hill, A Survey & Overview” lack the rich color of their diurnal cousins. which summarizes all previous work. The When picked up gently for study, the list in this report included all cicada mate- males vibrate and give a squawk or two. rial in the NUS Reference Collection as Females are completely silent when held well and added five new species bringing 11 12 13 14 15 in the hand, but they very rarely come the known total as at November 2000 to to our light, numbering less than 5% of 27 for Fraser’s Hill. Dr. Murphy saw 11 males. Published work on the attraction to of the species on this list during his surveys, light is divided, with some authors find- as well as 14 new ones, bringing the total ing females more numerous than males. to 41 species for Fraser’s Hill. Dr. Murphy’s Females usually have smaller bodies, as photographs of five diurnal species were they lack the sound-producing tymbals acceptable as proof of new records, without and acoustic chambers of the male. a need for museum specimens. His other 16 17 18 19 20 Cicadas don’t sting, bite or cause reference Cicadas of Thailand by Michel disease but their calls can be deafening. Boulard (2006) is more easily available, Hundreds of Chremistica guamusangentis A pair of Pomponia lactea; the female on the left is significantly smaller. but has few species found at Fraser's Hill. were calling when we recently visited the Belum forest in Malaysia, and we could boscis. The larval stage usually lasts for The larval stage usually not sleep while one called in our bath- 1-10 years, although the North American room; his call exceeded 100 dBSPL at 50 Magicicadas spend 13 or 17 years under- lasts for 1-10 years, cm on my sound level meter. ground, only then do they emerge in The calling sound level of cicadas has mass to overwhelm their predators. although the North 21 22 23 24 25 been correlated with the insect’s weight, Hans Duffels has been studying the American Magicicadas and the world’s loudest to date, Brevisana historical geographical distribution of brevis (0.3g), has been measured at cicada species in South-east Asia and the spend 13 or 17 years 106.7 dB. I have been hoping to meas- Western Pacific islands including New underground, only then ure the calls of the worlds largest cicada Guinea and Sulawesi. The landmasses in Megapomponia imperatoria (2g), or of this region have been moving with their do they emerge in mass Tacua speciosa (1.5g) to find a new world tectonic plates in different directions champion. Unfortunately, Tacua has over millions of years, and Hans finds to overwhelm their never been close enough to measure, and that most of the cicadas have remained Subfamily: Cicadettinae Tribe Platylomiini 17 Pomponia lactea (Distant) predators. Dr. Murphy and wife Mireille with Tribe Heuchysini 8 Platylomia abdulla (Distant) Tribe Cicadini the great Megapomponia has been too with their landmass of origin where they another Nature Watch contributor friend 1 Heuchys fusca (Distant) 9 Platylomia saturata (Walker) 18 Purana obducta evolved with time. Out of this list, the two species in the background, Celine Low. Subfamily: Cicadinae 10 Platylomia spinosa (Fabricus) (Schouten & Duffels) stressed to sing near the light or when Photo Vilma D’Rozario. Tribe Cryptotympanaria 11 Platylomia sp (New to 19 Purana tripunctata (Moulton) caged outside for a day or two. Hans introduced me to Azman new to science plus 12 others were new 2 Chremistica echinaria Science, resembles P flavida) 20 Puranoides jaafari records for Fraser’s Hill. The published (Yaakop & Duffels) 12 Orientopsaltria ruslani (Duffels (Azman & Zaide) Malaysian cicadas are found through- Suliaman with the National University Dr. Preston V. Murphy is former President 3 Cryptotympana aquila (Walker) & Zaidi) 21 Nabalua zaidii (Duffels) out the year although March-April is of Malaysia (UKM); he is the only resi- species list, covering 21 expeditions over “Fireman Cicada” Tribe Platypleurini Tribe Tacuini of Lectret Precision Pte. Ltd, Singapore and Tribe Dundubiini 13 Platypleura ridleyana (Distant) 22 Tacua speciosa (Illiger) high season.