Checklist, endemism, English vernacular names and identification of the cicadas (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadidae) of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

Public understanding of the goals of applied biology and conservation is promoted by showcasing charismatic or significant organisms using vernacular names. Conservation activities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, are prioritising taxa that have high rates of provincial endemism, such as snails, earthworms, millipedes and cicadas. To assist wider public engagement in these activities, an assessment of endemism of the cicadas of KwaZulu-Natal is presented along with a dichotomous, 37-couplet key for the identification of males, based mainly on externally visible morphology and colouration. Standardised English vernacular names coined following a simple naming convention are proposed. Forty-two percent (16 out of 38) of the cicada species known from KwaZulu-Natal are endemic to the province. Photographs of some of the species are included to facilitate their identification. Photographs can be used for identification of various species providing that the diagnostic characters are visible in the photographs. For this purpose, photographs may have to be taken of hand-held individuals. Some of the endemic species are of particular concern for conservation because they are not known to occur in statutory protected areas or are only known from relatively small protected areas. The latter may not be able to ensure the long-term survival of the species. The rate and extent of loss of habitat outside protected areas is likely to be a grave threat to species that are not protected or that are inadequately conserved in statutory protected areas. The standardised vernacular names proposed here provide a tool for communicating provincial conservation plans and concerns with stakeholders in KwaZulu-Natal and for stimulating interest in cicadas amongst land users, environmental impact assessment practitioners, biologists, naturalists and citizen scientists.

Case Studies in Biocultural Diversity from Southeast Asia—Traditional Ecological Calendars, Folk Medicine and Folk Names

“…Yet, there is far more to be done in according them the respect and sanctity they deserve. Researchers are caught in a perpetual race to standardise folk names for plants and animals, so as to avoid the confusion caused by multiple folk names used to denote the same taxon (Armstrong and Villet 2019;Ehmke et al 2018;Eisenmann and Poor 1946;Phaka 2020;Phaka et al 2019;Masski and Ait Hammou 2016). The mandate to provide unambiguous methods of classifying and naming flora and fauna, however, is best served by the formal systems of classifications (Rao 2004).…”