Quesada gigas ( Olivier, 1791 )

Sanborn, Allen F., 2024, The cicada (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) fauna of the Lesser Antilles sensu lato with the description of two new species, two new combinations, and a key to species, Zootaxa 5497 (1), pp. 33-69 : 48-49

Quesada gigas ( Olivier, 1791)

Cicada gigas Olivier 1791: 750 (Java) .

Cicada triupsilon Walker 1850: 103 (Unknown collection locality).

Cicada sonans Walker 1850: 104 (Unknown collection locality).

Cicada consonans Walker 1850: 106 (West Coast of America).

Cicada vibrans Walker 1850: 107 (Unknown collection locality).

Tympanoterpes sibilarix Berg 1879: 141 .

Remarks. The type locality of Java is a mistake. The species is found over most of the tropical and subtropical New World ( Sanborn & Heath 2014; 2017).

The publication date for the species is modified from previous works that listed 1790 as the year of publication. It has been reported ( Bousquet 2016) that Olivier’s work was published in two parts with the first part (pages 1–368) published on 17 November 1790 and the second section (pages 369–793) being published on 3 June 1791. The description of Cicada gigas is in the second section and the date of availability should be 1791 instead of the 1790 that has previously been used in the cicada bibliographies ( Metcalf 1963a; Duffels & van der Laan 1985; Sanborn 2013).

Diagnosis. Quesada gigas is another of the large Trinidadian cicadas with body lengths up to 45 mm and wingspans of 120 mm having been reported ( Sanborn & Heath 2017). The head width across the eyes is narrower than the pronotum and about as wide as the mesonotum, the head is distinctly triangular with an anterior extension of the postclypeus, the lateral pronotum is convergent anteriorly in dorsal view, the lateral pronotal collar is narrower laterally than dorsally, timbal covers recurve along the posterior timbal cavity forming a ribbon-like structure posterior to the timbals with a small triangular extension that expose the majority of timbal laterally, the male abdomen is widest at segments 3 and 4, proximal wing venation is ground color, and infuscation found only on the radial and radiomedial crossveins easily distinguish it from Majeorona aper . Fidicinoides descampsi can be distinguished by the stout body and the infuscation found along the ambient vein, distal apical cell veins, and connecting across all crossveins of the fore wings and hind wings. The song sounds like a steam whistle. Their ability to call at dusk is due to the endothermy exhibited by the species ( Sanborn et al. 1995). Davis (1944) reported emergence times for the species during February and March on Tobago.

Distribution. This species may have the most extensive north to south range of any cicada species. It has been reported from as far south as central Argentina, expanding across South and Central America with records from Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Antilles, the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, extending northward into the southern Texas in the United States ( Metcalf 1963a; Duffels & van der Laan 1985; Maccagnan & Martinelli 2011; Sanborn 2011b; 2013; 2014; 2018; 2019a; 2020a, b, c; 2023a; Maccagnan et al. 2014; Monteiro et al. 2014; Sanborn & Heath 2014; Reis et al. 2015; Maccagnan et al. 2017; Oliveira et al. 2017; Nunes et al. 2023). References for the species in Trinidad and or Tobago by Mathew (1875), Distant (1881a), Uhler (1892), Davis (1944), Maes (1998), Sanborn & Heath (2014), and Sanborn (2018) were provided with no specific locality information. Uhler (1892) lists Trinidad as given by Distant (1881a) but did not consider Trinidad part of the Lesser Antilles proper. The first specific locality for the Lesser Antilles was given in Sanborn (2020a) for Trinidad. It has been reported from both Trinidad & Tobago ( Davis 1944; Sanborn 2020a).

Material examined. “ Petit Valley / TRINIDAD / Station No. 1 / 10 June 1970 // T. E. Rogers / Coll.” one female ( FSCA); “ TRINIDAD / Talparo / V.24– VI.7.1990 / H.L. Dozier ” one male ( AFSC) .