Real ear cicada
| Real ear cicada | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common ear cicada ( Ledra aurita ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ledra aurita | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The real ear cicada ( Ledra aurita ), also ear cicada or ear chirp , is a round head cicada (Cicadomorpha) in the family of dwarf cicadas (Cicadellidae). It is the only species of the genus Ledra in Europe and the only species of cicada with an adaptation to life on tree bark. The species is unmistakable by ear-shaped growths on the pronotum.
distribution and habitat
Ledra aurita is distributed from Europe to Siberia and in the south to North Africa ( Palearctic ). It lives in open and closed deciduous forests, where it is mostly in the treetops. The cicada species is common in certain areas, but difficult to find due to its good camouflage and hidden way of life.
features
The real ear cicada reaches body lengths between 13 and 18 millimeters. The basic color of their body is gray-green or gray-yellow with brown speckles. The veins of the forewings form a strongly protruding network. The rails (tibia) of the hind legs are widened outward like a leaf. The vertex of the head is extended flat like a shovel towards the front. The throat plate (pronotum) carries laterally two ear-shaped growths which the insect both scientific (lat. Auritus, -a, -um = provided with ears), and the name of Germany have entered.
The adult rats ( Imagines ) already very similar larvae are like stained them. They are almost cup-shaped and flat in body shape. Their wings and the growths of the pronotum are not yet fully developed; In the last larval stages, however, the protruding head is already clearly recognizable.
Way of life
The cicada is adapted to life on tree bark. Due to the color that dissolves the contours, both the larvae and the adult animals are very well camouflaged on the ground and can hardly be recognized. The cicadas suck the sap ( phloem ) of the leaves and branches of deciduous trees and shrubs with their specially built, piercing-sucking mouthparts . The species is polyphagous, that is, it is not very particular about its food. Although it prefers oaks ( Quercus ), it also sucks a variety of other woody plants such as birch ( Betula ), poplar ( Populus ) and occasionally linden ( Tilia ), beech ( Fagus ), apple ( Malus ), maple ( Acer ), alder ( Alnus) ) and hazelnuts ( Corylus ). The animals are mostly in the treetops. Adults like to fly to light at night and can therefore sometimes be spotted in apartments or under neon signs.
The true ear cicada is one of the few species of cicada in Central Europe with a perennial ( semivoltine ) larval development. It initially overwinters as a young larva and, after several moults, survives the second winter as an older larva. The adults are short-lived and appear from mid-June to early October. There are individual sightings until mid-November. Reproduction and oviposition take place from around July to August.
Systematics
The species was first described by Linné as Cicada aurita , it is the type species of the genus Ledra Fabricius, 1803. The genus includes more than 40 species, with a distribution center in East Asia. Ledra aurita is the only European species of the genus, as is the entire subfamily Ledrinae.
literature
- R. Biedermann, R. Niedringhaus: The cicadas of Germany - identification tables for all kinds. Fründ, Scheeßel 2004, ISBN 3-00-012806-9 .
- R. Remane, E. Wachmann: Cicadas - get to know, observe. Naturbuch Verlag, Augsburg 1993, ISBN 3-89440-044-7 .
- H. Nickel: The leafhoppers and planthoppers of Germany (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha): Patterns and strategies in a highly diverse group of phytophagous insects. Pensoft, Sofia and Moscow 2003, ISBN 954-642-169-3 .
- H. Nickel, R. Remane: List of species of cicadas in Germany, with information on nutrient plants, food breadth, life cycle, area and endangerment (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha et Cicadomorpha). - Contributions to the cicada 5/2002. PDF 229 kB
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joshua R. Jones & Lewis L. Deitz (2009): Phylogeny and systematics of the leafhopper subfamily Ledrinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). Zootaxa 2186. 120 pp.
Web links
- Ledra at Fauna Europaea
- www.natur-in-nrw.de