Diceroprocta olympusa (Walker)

Sanborn, Allen F., Phillips, Polly K. & Gilllis, Philip, 2008, The Cicadas of Florida (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 1916, pp. 1-43 : 6

Diceroprocta olympusa (Walker) (Figs. 11, 16–24)

Fidicina olympusa Walker, 1850: 101 . Type locality: unknown. The collection locality of the type specimen was unknown to Walker. Holotype female is in the Natural History Museum, London. Cicada milvus Walker, 1858: 11 .

Cicada sordidata Uhler, 1892b: 175 .

Adults first begin to emerge in late April and can be heard singing until mid-to-late November. The most common collection dates are in July and August. The song has been described as a constant buzzing without any frequency or amplitude modulations. Peak frequency of the song is 10.4 ± 1.2 kHz with sound energy between 8 and 12 kHz with individual sound pulses being produced at a rate of 97.6 ± 4.68 s -1 ( Sanborn and Maté 2000). A sonagram of the call can be found in Sanborn and Maté (2000). Males sing individually during the day and may call from the same perch for several days ( Alexander and Moore 1962). Calling is highly dependent on access to solar radiation so populations generally stop calling when clouds float in front of the sun ( Sanborn and Maté 2000).

In contrast to D. biconica , D. olympusa has one of the most expansive distributions of any Florida cicada being reported from 54 counties (Fig. 11). It can be found over most of the state. It has been collected in the following Florida counties: Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Dade, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardy, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Jefferson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, and Walton.

Diceroprocta olympusa could be called the Florida cicada. It is found in most counties and primary ecoregions within the state. It is notably absent from the majority of the Everglades. The species will sing from just about any plant and tends to elevate to call often singing from high in pine trees ( Pinus spp.). However, the host plants for the species are grasses ( Sanborn and Mate 2000) which may facilitate the distribution of the species into the various ecoregions and habitats.