Cicada barbara lusitanica Boulard, 1982
    © Recording by J.A.Quartau

botella con zoom

Photo 1. Crato (Alentejo), on olive tree, 22 July 1990 (photo JAQuartau)
Use the cursor as MAGNIFYING GLASS on the image

botella con zoom

Photo 2. Crato (Alentejo), feeding on olive, 22 July 1990 (photo JAQuartau)
Use the cursor as MAGNIFYING GLASS on the image

botella con zoom

Photo 3. Crato (Alentejo), emitting the calling song on olive trunk, 22 July 1990 (photo JAQuartau)
Use the cursor as MAGNIFYING GLASS on the image

The subspecies that occurs in Portugal (and Spain) is Cicada barbara lusitanica Boulard, 1982. It is a cicada characteristic of the south of the country, namely Algarve and Alentejo, although it also occurs in Serra da Arrábida, as well as in warmer parts of the north, e.g. where almond trees (Amygdalus communis) are grown.

Distribution - Cited for the Algarve (Alcalar, Alvor, Carvoeiro, Castro Marim, Lagoa, Lagos, Loulé, Poço do Boliqueime, Praia da Rocha, Raposeira, Serra de Monchique), Baixo Alentejo (Moura, Vila Verde of Ficalho), Alto Alentejo (Crato, Monforte, Portel, Sousel), Estremadura (Serra da Arrábida, Sesimbra) and Beira Alta (Barrage of the Côa, Foz Côa, Malcata).

Ecology -In typically Mediterranean habitats, such as open woods, olive groves and "garrigue", usually singing in trees and less frequently on shrubs, namely olive trees (Olea European), carob (Ceratonia siliqua), maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), mastic shrubs (Pistacea lentiscus), etc...

Notes - Males emit acoustic signals from the end of June until early September, perched on trunks and branches of several trees and shrubs, either alone or in a chorus of several individuals. Morphologically identical to Cicada orni, from which it is easily distinguished by its characteristic continuous call (discontinuous in C. orni), as well as by a slightly higher frequency (on average about 6 kHz vs. 5 kHz in C. orni) (Quartau & Rebelo, 1994). These two species can occur simultaneously in some locations, and when in sympatry, the populations of C. orni tend to vanish earlier, remaining only C. barbara lusitanica in the field. This gives evidence to some kind of acoustic competition between this pair of species when in sympatry, possibly because the signal of C. barbara masks the call of C. orni. When disturbed, and unlike C. orni, this cicada produces a characteristic alarm signal, which is characterized by a marked modulation in intermittent amplitude.

(QUARTAU, J.A. & REBELO, M.T. 1994. Sinais acústicos em Cicadidae e Cicadellidae (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha) que ocorrem em Portugal.In: Actas do I Congresso Nacional de Etologia. Almada, V. & Oliveira, R. (eds), pp.: 137-142).