Cicadas (Taipei)

According to an Academia Sinica website, Taiwan is home to 59 species of cicadas, more than half of which are found only here. Cicadas are large insects, but they're often difficult to spot because they hide in trees and bushes. However, the constant noisy buzzing sound they make is familiar to anyone who lives nearby them.

English Name: Cicada species
Scientific Name: Euterpnosia sp.? 
Chinese Name: 姬春蟬 (Jichun Chan)
Chinese Meaning: Roughly "Beautiful Springtime Cicada"





Date: September, 2009
Location: Zhangshan Temple Hiking Trail, Wenshan Dist., Taipei City
Coordinates:  24° 58' 29.01" N, 121° 34' 45.43" E

I found this one lying dead on the side of stone paved hiking trail that goes from National Chengchi University to Zhanshan Temple on the southern edge of the city of Taipei. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of its back, which would have helped identify the species; but based on the photos at the NTU Insect Museum website, I'm guessing that it's a member of the Euterpnosia genus, which includes a quarter of all the cicada species in Taiwan (all known in Chinese as "Jichun Chan"). In the second picture, check out the the three little red dots halfway between the eyes (click on the picture to enlarge it); these are actually miniature eyes, called ocelli, used for sensing light. All cicada's have these three extra eyes. Cool!

English Name: Cicada species
Scientific Name: Meimuna sp. (likely M. opalifera)
Chinese Name: 寒蟬 (Han Chan)
Chinese Meaning: "Winter Cicada"



Date: September 23, 2009
Location: Shiyuan Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei City
Coordinates:  24° 59' 24.13" N, 121° 32' 58.34" E

I encountered this one buzzing around confusedly in the alleyway that leads up to my home. I'm pretty confident that it's a member of the Genus Meimuna, and I think it's probably Meimuna opalifera, the "Winter Cicada". This species is found in many parts of East Asia, but it has several close relatives which are found only in Taiwan.

English Name: Cicada species (molted exoskeleton)
Scientific Name: Family Cicadidae 
Chinese Name: 蟬 (Chan)
Chinese Meaning: Character means "cicada" or "continuous"



Date: September 11, 2009
Location: National Chengchi University, Wenshan District, Taipei City
Coordinates:  24° 58' 47.77" N, 121° 34' 13.86" E

When cicadas first emerge from the ground as larvae, they have to "molt", or shed their exoskeleton (an insect's hard outer skin) before they can take on their full adult form. Here's a discarded exoskeleton left attached to a tree. This photo was taken outside of the ZihCiang Residence Hall building on the NCCU campus. In North America, some species of cicadas are seen only once every 17 years, because the entire species spends almost 17 years under ground growing as larva before they all emerge and reproduce at the same time, only for their offspring to then spend the next 17 years under ground. These are called "periodical" cicadas. In Taiwan however, all of the cicada species are all "annuals", meaning there's a new batch of them every year.