Biodiversity eavesdropping: bioacoustics confirms the presence ofCicadetta montana(Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in France

Abstract

Abstract. Using bioacoustic methods only, we confi rm the presence of Cicadetta montana s. str. in France, a cicada belonging to a complex of closely related species. Specimens of C. montana from France have probably been kept in collections for a long time but could not be identifi ed with certainty by morphological characters alone. The species was discovered in a single locality but it is highly probable that it will be found in many other parts of the country in particular in the north and east of France. This simple study illustrates how much bioacoustic studies can help in monotoring biodiversity, in particular biodiversity of closely related species and/or of species living in habitats diffi cult to reach or where visual contact is highly limited.Résumé. Suivi de la biodiversité par l'écoute : confi rmation par la bioacoustique de la présence de Cicadetta montana (Insecta : Hemiptera : Cicadidae) en France. Uniquement à partir d'analyses bioacoustiques, nous confi rmons la présence en France de Cicadetta montana s. str., espèce appartenant à un complexe d'espèces proches. C. montana de France était probablement conservée depuis longtemps dans les collections mais elle n'a pas pu être identifi ée de façon certaine par la seule analyse de caractères morphologiques. Cette espèce a été découverte dans une seule localité mais il est hautement probable qu'elle soit présente dans de nombreuses autres parties du pays, notamment au nord et à l'est du territoire. Cette étude simple illustre combien les études bioacoustiques peuvent être utiles à l'inventaire de la biodiversité, en particulier dans le cas d'espèces proches et/ou d'espèces occupant des habitats diffi ciles d'accès ou avec un contact visuel fortement réduit.

Dimissalna, a cicada genus that remained unnoticed in France (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadidae)

“…Th e male calling song is high in frequency and is emitted from the top of the trees. Th e acoustic pattern is close to those of C. montana and C. brevipennis as described by Gogala et al (2004) and Sueur & Puissant (2007a). All these parameters might explain why D. dimissa has not been detected before.…”

“…Coleoptera Cerambycidae, Orthoptera Acrididae, Lepidoptera Arctiidae). Four species were recently reported in France: Cicadetta cerdaniensis Puissant & Boulard 2000 by Puissant & Boulard (2000), Tibicina steveni (Krynicki 1837) by Sueur et al (2003), Cicadetta montana (Scopoli 1772) by Sueur & Puissant (2007a), and Cicadetta cantilatrix Sueur & Puissant 2007 by Sueur & Puissant (2007b). Th e number of cicada species and sub-species occurring on the mainland and Corsica therefore increased to 17 in 2006 (Puissant 2006), and to 19 in 2007.…”

Cicadetta montana complex (Hemiptera, Cicadidae) in Greece – a new species and new records based on bioacoustics

“…This is true also for European cicadas, especially for the Cicadetta montana complex of close related species (e.g. Schedl 1999;Gogala & Trilar 1999Puissant & Boulard 2000;Trilar & Holzinger 2004;Sueur & Puissant 2007a, 2007bHertach 2007). By bioacoustic methods it is also much easier to single out singing animals in vegetation and to identify them.…”

“…However, the fauna of mountain cicadas has not been investigated in Greece thoroughly with bioacoustic methods. Cicadas of this group have been recently investigated in France (Puissant & Boulard 2000;Sueur & Puissant 2007a, 2007b, Slovenia (Gogala & Trilar 2004), Switzerland (Hertach 2007), Poland (Trilar et al 2006b), Austria (Trilar & Holzinger 2005), and the Balkans (Gogala et al 2005;Trilar et al 2006a), but there were no data about the geographic distribution of C. montana and related species in Greece. Therefore, we devoted during our investigations special attention to species of the Cicadetta montana complex.…”

Chremistica ribhoi sp. n. (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from North-East India and its mass emergence

“…Later, however, he regarded Rihana as a synonym for Chremistica (Distant 1906a, b). Kirkaldy (1907) corrected the synonyms proposed by Distant (1906) with a remark that Rihana should be a junior synonym of Chremistica. Metcalf (1963) then raised Chremistica to the level of a genus.…”