Platypleura divisa

"Platypleura divisa" (Germar, 1834), is an African cicada first described by Ernst Friedrich Germar, entomologist and professor of mineralogy at Halle, who also studied beetles.

The genus "Platypleura" occurs widely across Africa and southern Asia. Some of the South African species are remarkable for their endothermic thermoregulation that enables crepuscular signalling, an adaptation that reduces risk of predation and enables a greater range for their calls. In field experiments their maximum body temperature while calling at dusk, was measured at 22°C above ambient temperature. [http://www.springerlink.com/content/94wke87u9ny94vdh/ Endothermy in African platypleurine cicadas July, 2003]

"Platypleura divisa" is even more noteworthy in that it has been collected only from one species of foodplant, the small tree "Maytenus heterophylla". [ [http://www.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/zooento/PUBLICATIONS/Sanborn%20et%20al%202003a.pdf doi:10.1016/S0306-4565(03)00013-5 ] ] The closely related coastal species "P. maytenophila" shares its strong bond with "Maytenus heterophylla", but is distinguishable by a quite different call.

The "Platypleurini" are distributed from the Cape in South Africa, throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, through India and south East Asia, to Japan [ [http://www.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/zooento/STUDENTS/Price/ben.html Platypleurini, cicadas ] ] . The faunas of West Africa and Madagascar are distinctive, while those of southern and east Africa resemble the Asian group. Endothermy occurs in several large-bodied South American and South African species, but not in related small-bodied species. [pers. comm. prof Martin Villet, Rhodes University]

List of "Platypleura" (Amyot & Serville, 1843) species

*"Platypleura affinis"
*"Platypleura afzelii" Stål, 1854
*"Platypleura albigera Walker 1850 - Western Cape, Eastern Cape
*"Platypleura albivannata" Hayashi, 1974 - Japan
*"Platypleura andamana" Distant, 1878 - Andaman Islands
*"Platypleura arabica" Myers - United Arab Emirates [http://books.google.com/books?id=6PTl3wUEJtgC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=%22platypleura+arabica%22&source=web&ots=iLuIQLjr3w&sig=Dbbd9xC9JyToVdlS-MlNhqBhjVw]
*"Platypleura argentata" Villet, 1987 - Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
*"Platypleura arminops" (Noualhier 1896) - Thailand [http://esa.confex.com/esa/viewHandout.cgi?uploadid=592 View Handout ] ]
*"Platypleura assamensis" Atkinson, 1884 - Jalpaiguri
*"Platypleura auropilosa" (Kato 1940) - Thailand
*"Platypleura basimacula" Walker 1850 - Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Province, Northwest Province, Free State, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
*"Platypleura basi-viridis" - India [ [http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/P/Platypleura_basi-viridis.asp Platypleura basi-viridis (No common name) ] ]
*"Platypleura bettoni" Distant, 1904
*"Platypleura bombifrons" Karsch 1890 - Mpumalanga, Northern Province, Zimbabwe
*"Platypleura brevis" Walker, 1850 - Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Province, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi
*"Platypleura brunea" Villet, 1989a - Eastern Cape, South Africa
*"Platypleura canescens" Walker, 1870 - East Timor
*"Platypleura capensis" (Linnaeus, 1764) - Western Cape and Eastern Cape, South Africa on Metalasia muricata, Brachylaena discolor
*"Platypleura capitata" Olivier, 1790
*"Platypleura centralis" Distant, 1897
*"Platypleura cercophora" H.A. Thomsen, 1983
*"Platypleura chalybaea" Villet, 1989a - Eastern Cape, South Africa on Euphorbia triangularis
*"Platypleura ciliaris" Linnaeus, 1758
*"Platypleura clara" Amyot & Serville, 1843
*"Platypleura daempferi" Fabricius
*"Platypleura deusta" (Thunberg, 1822) - Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal and Lesotho, South Africa on Leucosidea sericea, Cliffortia
*"Platypleura divisa" (Germar, 1834) - Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, South Africa on Maytenus heterophylla
*"Platypleura fenestrata" Uhler 1862ahttp://www.fcla.edu/FlaEnt/fe82p34.pdf]
*"Platypleura fulvigera" (Walker, 1850)
*"Platypleura gowdeyi" Distant, 1914 - South Africa on Acacia gerrardii
*"Platypleura haglundi" Stål, 1866 - Northwest Province, Free State, Northern Province, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal, to Zimbabwe, Southern Africa on Acacia karroo, Acacia, Dichrostachys cinerea
*"Platypleura hilpa" (Walker, 1850)
*"Platypleura hirta" Karsch, 1890 - Northern Province, Gauteng and Mpumalanga
*"Platypleura hirtipennis" (Germar, 1834)- Eastern Cape, South Africa on Acacia karroo
*"Platypleura infundibuliformis" B.S.C. Leadbeater & H.A. Thomsen, 2000 [ [http://www.helcom.fi/stc/files/Publications/Proceedings/bsep95.pdf Checlist of Baltic Sea Phytoplankton Species ] ] - Kattegat, Baltic Sea
*"Platypleura kaempferi" (Fabricius) - Japan
*"Platypleura kceupferi"
*"Platypleura kuroiwae" Matsumura, 1917 - Japan
*"Platypleura laticlavia" Stål, 1858 - Northwest Province, Northern Province, Northern Cape, Botswana, Namibia
*"Platypleura limbata"
*"Platypleura lindiana" Distant, 1905
*"Platypleura lyricen" Kirkaldy
*"Platypleura machadoi" Boulard 1972
*"Platypleura marshalli" Distant, 1897
*"Platypleura maytenophila" Villet, 1987 - Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa on Maytenus heterophylla
*"Platypleura mijburghi" Villet, 1989a - Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Northern Province, South Africa
*"Platypleura mira (Distant 1904) - Thailand
*"Platypleura miyakona" Matsumura, 1917 - Japan
*"Platypleura murchisoni" [Distant, 1905e - Mpumalanga
*"Platypleura nigrolinea" De Geer, 1773 = "P. stridula"
*"Platypleura nobilis" Germar, 1830 - Thailand
*"Platypleura octoguttata" Fabricius
*"Platypleura perforata" H.A. Thomsen
*"Platypleura plumosa" (Germar, 1834) - Eastern Cape, South Africa on Acacia karroo
*"Platypleura poeyl" (Guér.)
*"Platypleura punctigera Walker 1850 - Kwazulu-Natal, Eastern Cape
*"Platypleura quadraticollis" Butler 1874 - Mpumalanga, Northern Province, Botswana, Zimbabwe
*"Platypleura rutherfordi" Distant, 1883
*"Platypleura signifera" Walker, 1850 - Eastern Cape
*"Platypleura sobrina" Stål, 1866
*"Platypleura stridula" (Linnaeus, 1758) - Western Cape, South Africa on Salix
*"Platypleura sylvia Distant 1899 - Mpumalanga
*"Platypleura techowi" - Northern Cape, Free State, Northwest Province, Northern Province and Mpumalanga
*"Platypleura turneri" Boulard, 1975a - Western Cape
*"Platypleura wahlbergi" Stål, 1855 - Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa on Acacia karroo
*"Platypleura watsoni" (Distant 1897) - Thailand
*"Platypleura westwoodi" Stål, 1863
*"Platypleura yayeyamana" Matsumara,1917 - Japan [ [http://homepage2.nifty.com/saisho/photo/y_nini/y_nini.html ヤエヤマニイニイの写真 ] ]
*"Platypleura zuluensis Villet 1987 - Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Kwazulu-Natal

References

External links

* [http://taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl/TaxonTree.aspx?id=193186&tree=0.1&syn=1 Taxonomy]
* [http://www.biodic.go.jp/cgi-db/gen/kn05se_e.kn05_semi?paramcode=00000&sw=ama Japanese site]
* [http://www2.nrm.se/en/homopteralist.html List of Homoptera in Swedish Museum of Natural History]
* [http://www.amonline.net.au/pdf/publications/1447_complete.pdf An Appraisal of the Higher Classification of Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea) with Special Reference to the Australian Fauna - M.S. Moulds]
* [http://www.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/zooento/Martin/cicadidae.html The Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of South Africa (Villet)]