''Pycna semiclara'', known as the Whining Forest Cicada, is a South African forest-dwelling platypleurine cicada. One of the largest cicadas in South Africa, this species reaches 40–50 mm in length. Its wings display green, brown and translucent patches, and are covered with silvery hairs. It is endemic to South Africa, and occurs in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

and

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

provinces. It prefers indigenous forests, where undergrowth is sparse and trees are more than 4m tall, but may also be found in stands of ''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus ...

'', ''

Populus deltoides ''Populus deltoides'', the eastern cottonwood or necklace poplar, is a Populus sect. Aigeiros, cottonwood Populus, poplar native to North America, growing throughout the eastern, central, and southwestern United States as well as the southern Ca ...

'', pine and eucalyptus. It is also unusually found in dense riverine bushes in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape. Males usually call from a position a few meters above the ground on a shady limb of a tree, with a good view of the immediate surroundings and potential predators. Males often sing in chorus to attract mates, particularly at dusk and dawn, enabled to do this by an

endothermic In thermochemistry, an endothermic process () is any thermodynamic process with an increase in the enthalpy (or internal energy ) of the system.Oxtoby, D. W; Gillis, H.P., Butler, L. J. (2015).''Principle of Modern Chemistry'', Brooks Cole. p. ...

metabolism which rises to more than 22 °C above ambient temperature. This endothermy during crepuscular hours allows the use of optimal atmospheric conditions for acoustic communication and reduces chances of predation to a minimum. The species also produces an encounter call used in courtship and maintaining personal space within choruses, behaving aggressively to other males venturing closer than about 50 cm. Choruses may start up at any time of the day, but concentrate their calling in a half-hour period at dawn and dusk.

References

External links

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Insects of Africa Insects described in 1834 Platypleurini {{Cicadidae-stub