Cicadetta calliope floridensis (Davis)

Sanborn, Allen F., Phillips, Polly K. & Gilllis, Philip, 2008, The Cicadas of Florida (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 1916, pp. 1-43 : 15-16

Cicadetta calliope floridensis (Davis) (Figs. 75, 175–183)

Melampsalta calliope var. floridensis Davis 1920: 131 . Type loclity: Fort Meade, Polk County, Florida. Allotype female was collected in Rye, Manatee County Florida. Holotype and allotype are in the American Museum of Natural History ( Sanborn 1999).

The subspecies was erected for specimens from peninsular Florida which were grass green in color (fig. 175) and lacked the black markings (fig. 176) characteristic of the dorsum of C. c. calliope (fig. 167).

Cicadetta calliope floridensis becomes active after C. c. calliope based on collection dates. The subspecies first emerge in late April and can be heard singing until mid-September. The most common collection dates are in July and August.

Van Duzee (1909) reported collecting a specimen from a small, broad-leaved oak in Tampa. His description of the coloration of the specimen suggests it is C. c. floridensis which was yet to be described at the time of the paper. Van Duzee (1909) was also surprised by the intensity of the call produced by the small insect. No analysis has been performed on the song of the subspecies.

Cicadetta calliope floridensis is fairly widespread throughout the northern and central regions of Florida (Fig. 75) with specimens being reported in southern Alabama and Georgia ( Metcalf 1963 c; Sanborn and Phillips unpublished). It has been collected in 40 Florida counties: Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Hernando, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Jackson, Lake, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Seminole, St. John’s, Suwannee, Volusia, Wakulla, and Walton. The species is found primarily in the Southern Coastal Plain and Southeastern Plains ecoregions with a couple records from the Miami Ridge/Atlantic Coastal Strip of the Southern Florida Coastal Plains ecoregion. The overlap its distribution with that of C. c. calliope suggests the further investigation is necessary to determine the validity of the subspecies.