Tettigettalna mariae (Quartau & Boulard, 1995)

In Gogala, M. Boulard, M. Popov, A., Puissant, S., Hertach,
T., Quartau, J., Simões, P., Sueur, J.  & T. Trilar.
Acoustic website on European Singing Cicadashttp://www.cicadasong.eu/ )

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Photo 1. Quinta do Lago (Algarve), on Pinus pinea, 7 August 1990 (photo J.A.Quartau)
Use the cursor as MAGNIFYING GLASS on the image

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Photo 2. Quinta do Lago (Algarve), on Pinus pinea, 13 August 1990 (photo J.A.Quartau).
Use the cursor as MAGNIFYING GLASS on the image

It is a small cicada very close morphologically to Tettigettalna argentata.  I found this then unknown cicada in Quinta do Lago (Algarve), in the summer of 1989, through its calling song which is very different from that of the very close species T. argentata. In the following summers I made new observations and recordings, and then contacted my colleague Michel Boulard (Museum of Natural History of Paris), who coauthored  me in its description as a new species. Named after  my wife, hence the specific epithet mariae.

Distribution - Algarve (Castro Marim, Vilamoura, Quarteira, Quinta do Lago, Vilamoura).

Ecology -In pine woods especially of  the central part of the Algarve coast. On trees like Pinus pinea, Pinus pinaster and Olea europaea, as well as on shrubs like Cistus ladanifer and more rarely on herbaceous plants.

Notes - Males emit acoustic signals especially in July and August. Unlike other small cicadas, which are continuously moving from branch to branch, it remains more or less static when "singing" for considerable time.
The low amplitude calling sound is very characteristic and was described by Quartau & Boulard (1995).
It also occurs in the Spanish Andalusia, in habitats similar to the Algarve. It is a species with a discontinuous and strongly fragmented distribution in the Algarve, due to the constant destruction of its habitat, either for reasons of tourist urbanization, or by eventual firesI it is a vulnerable species in Portugal whose distribution should be regularly monitored with a view to its conservation.

QUARTAU, J.A. & M. BOULARD. 1995.Tettigetta mariae n.sp., nouvelle Cigale lusitanienne (Homoptera, Cicadoidea, Tibicinidae). EPHE, Biologie et Évolution des Insectes, 7/8: 105-110.