Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Cicadidae
Genus: Amphipsalta
Scientific name: Amphipsalta cingulata
Common name: Clapping Cicada
The sound of the Amphipsalta cingulata (Thanks to Cicada Central)
The adult male cicada possesses two ribbed membranes called tymbals, one on each side of its first abdominal segment. By contracting the tymbal muscle, the cicada buckles the membrane inward, producing a loud click. As the membrane snaps back, it clicks again. The two tymbals click alternately.Air sacs in the hollow abdominal cavity amplify the clicking sounds. The vibration travels through the body to the tympani, which amplify the sound further.
Amphipsalta cingulata is concentrated in the northern half of the North Island and the southern tip but not in the Hutt Valley floor. It emerges earlier in the season than A. zelandica. The Clapping cicada's empty case is a pale colour while the Chorus cicadas case in a bright brown.
Found early February New Plymouth
Lateral view
Male underside. Each sound organ consists of a large plate-like structure, the operculum,( the round flat plates in the photo below) which covers a cavity containing a white or yellowish membrane and an oval, ribbed, drum-like structure called a timbal.
The underside of a female.
Wing patterns
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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
