2/24/2011

The Insects of Jennifer Angus: Cicadas

“Arranging Nature”, the insect art installation by Jennifer Angus has been drawing a lot of interest around the museum. Guests have been asking about what species of insects are used in this art exhibit. Over the next few days we’ll be covering the insects used for this exhibit in small groups. Let’s start with cicadas!

Cicadas: There are some 2,500 species of cicada that live in temperate to tropical climates around the world. These large insects have widely spaces eyes, often clean wings and leave behind shed skins that look like an empty version of the insect. The insect’s name derives from the Latin word cicada which means “buzzer”.

Pompoina imperatoria: A Malaysian cicada with clear wings. The largest cicada used in the exhibit and one of the largest in the world with a wingspan up to 6 inches.

Tosena albata: A cicada from Thailand with dark wings with a white stripe and two orange stripes that cross the insect’s body. This species is also known as a Bee Cicada.

Angamiana floridula: Also from Thailand, this cicada has dark forewings with a pale stripe and pale coloring near the body and a orange-brown hind wing.

Tosena splendida: A cicada from Thailand, this species has a black and white fore wing and a hindwing that is a lovely blue-green color.

Aythia spectabile: The smallest of the cicadas in the exhibit this species has clear wings with dark veins and markings.

Although these insects are from far away, there are 19 known species of cicada found in Florida. You can learn more about them and hear their songs at this link.

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