Double Drummer Cicada
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© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Thopha
- Species
- saccata
- Subfamily
- Cicadinae
- Family
- Cicadidae
- Super Family
- Cicadoidea
- Suborder
- Cicadomorpha
- Order
- Hemiptera
- Superorder
- Auchenorrhyncha
- Class
- Insecta
- Subphylum
- Uniramia
- Phylum
- Arthopoda
- Kingdom
- Animalia
-
- Size Range
- 12 cm - 15 cm
Introduction
The Double Drummer is one the largest cicadas in Australia and it has a song to match.
Habitat
The Double Drummer lives in urban areas, forests and woodlands.
Distribution
The Double Drummer is found throughout eastern Australia.
Seasonality
Adult Double Drummers can be found from November to March and tend to gather on large eucalypt trees. Often many adults emerge together and clusters of empty nymph skins (called exuviae) can be seen around the bases of eucalypts.
Other behaviours and adaptations
The Double Drummer seems to have a tendency to fly out to sea. Thousands of individuals have been reported as far as 8 km offshore. Their bodies are sometimes washed up on beaches.
Communication
One of the loudest of all cicadas, the Double Drummer's high-pitched erratic whine sounds a bit like a bad bagpipe player. When populations are dense, these cicadas are almost unbearable to be near when they sing in unison.
