Tibicen davisi (Smith & Grossbeck)

Sanborn, Allen F., Phillips, Polly K. & Gilllis, Philip, 2008, The Cicadas of Florida (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 1916, pp. 1-43 : 8

Tibicen davisi (Smith & Grossbeck) (Figs. 14, 43–51)

Cicada davisi Smith & Grossbeck nom. nov. pro Cicada canicularis Harris (in part) 1907: 121. Type locality: several localities in New Jersey and Florida are provided in the original description of the co-types. The Florida co-types were collected in Brevard County (Georgiana) and Miami-Dade County (Miami). Co-types are housed in the American Museum of Natural History, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Rutgers University Insect Collection, and the Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum.

Adults first emerge in mid-April and can be heard singing until late November or early December. We have heard them calling in December in South Florida. One specimen was heard as late as 2 January in Broward County after a couple weeks of cool weather. The decreased ambient temperature may have permitted the animal to survive into January. The most common collection dates are in August and early September. The song is a whining buzz similar to a saw lasting 6–7 sec with a peak frequency of about 7 kHz ( Elliott and Hershberger 2006) which has been described as a continuous “z-ing” ( Davis 1918). The song begins at low amplitude building to the buzz and softening at the call terminus. A sonagram of the call can be found in Elliott and Hershberger (2006).

Tibicen davisi has an expansive distribution in the state but is notably absent from the Everglades and insular regions (Fig. 14). The species inhabits all major ecoregions of Florida but is limited to the Miami Ridge/Atlantic coastal Strip in the south. It has been reported from the following 37 counties: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Citrus, Collier, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Highlands, Indian River, Jackson, Jefferson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie, Volusia, and Walton.