''Neotibicen similaris'' is a species of

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook ** Literary annual * Annual plant * Annual report * Annual giving * Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco * Annuals (b ...

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Neotibicen Cicadas of the genus ''Neotibicen'' are large-bodied insects of the family Cicadidae that appear in summer or early fall in eastern North America. Common names include cicada, harvestfly, jar fly, and the misnomer locust. In 2015, these species ...

''. It is native to the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. Initially, ''N. similaris'' encompassed one distinct species of ''

'', though Marshall and Hill described in 2017 an apparent subspecies of ''N. similaris'' native to the Apalachicola region of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The initial species described now consists the ''N. similaris'' subspecies ''N. similaris similaris'', while the newly described variant occupies the ''N. similaris apalachicola'' subspecies. They are similar, and the most reliable means of distinguishing the subspecies is the distinctive call of ''N. similaris apalachicola'' males; however, despite the distinctness of the mating calls, the two subspecies appear to

hybridize Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

in areas in which they overlap, resulting in songs that combine elements of both.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies belonging to the species ''Neotibicen similaris'': * ''Neotibicen similaris similaris'' (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907)^{g b} (similar dog-day cicada) * ''Neotibicen similaris apalachicola'' Marshall and Hill, 2017^g Data sources: g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

Hemiptera of North America Insects described in 1907 Cryptotympanini {{Cicadidae-stub