Additions to the cicada (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadidae) fauna of India: first report and range extension of four species with notes on their natural history from Meghalaya

Abstract

In order to broaden our understanding about cicada diversity of northeastern India, a comprehensive survey was conducted in the year 2017, in Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya and an occasional opportunistic survey was carried out in northern West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh. During these surveys, we came across four species of cicadas, viz., Meimuna duffelsi, Dundubia annandalei, Balinta tenebricosa, and Orientopsaltria fangrayae, which were not reported from India earlier and among them the genus Orientopsaltria is being reported for the first time from the country. This work provides an account of the taxonomy, natural history, distribution, and acoustics of these four species of cicadas along with their attribute to the culture and customs of the indigenous tribes of the landscape.

Keywords

• acoustics
• garo hills
• jaintia hills
• khasi hills
• new distribution report
• natural history
• northeastern india
• northern bengal
• orientopsaltria
• taxonomy