Tibicen Latreille, 1825 : 426

Sanborn, Allen F., Phillips, Polly K. & Gilllis, Philip, 2008, The Cicadas of Florida (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 1916, pp. 1-43 : 7

Tibicen Latreille, 1825: 426 .

Type species: Tibicen plebejus (Scopoli) .

There are 29 species and eight subspecies of Tibicen in North America north of Mexico (Sanborn and Heath in preparation). Boulard (1984; 1988; 1997; 2001; 2003) has argued for the suppression of Tibicen and its derivatives in favor of Lyristes Horvath. Boulard’s argument for suppression was first described in Melville and Sims (1984). Melville and Sims (1984) presented the case for suppression to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature with further comments made by Hamilton (1985), Boulard (1985), and Lauterer (1985) but the Commission has yet to make a ruling. As there were several experts working with the Cicadoidea who voted for and against the proposal, we use the generic name in which the majority of the species were originally described. In addition, the recent molecular phylogenies have meant Boulard’s proposal needs to be modified based on a realignment of various fauna ( Moulds 2005). The name cannot be suppressed officially until a ruling is made by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature but that ruling has yet to be forthcoming. There are 10 species and two subspecies represented in Florida.

Tibicen is a poorly defined genus most notable for its lack of diagnostic characters, and this has contributed to confusion in application of the taxon. The head is as broad or broader than the mesonotum (fig. 35), and the radial crossvein arises near the basal third of apical cell 3 (fig. 34). The radial and radiomedial crossveins are parallel. The male pygofer has rounded lateral lobes (fig. 38), a dorsal beak on pygofer is usually present, a simple uncus (fig. 39), and complete timbal covers (fig. 36). Female sternite VIII is smoothly bilobed (fig. 42), not sinuous as in Diceroprocta .