''Abricta'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

found in

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, northeastern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the Moluccas,

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. They make a distinctive hissing sound when calling. Adult members of the genus usually face downwards on tree branches, and lay their eggs in living tissue. The genus was originally described by

Carl Stål Carl Stål (21 March 1833 – 13 June 1878) was a Swedish people, Swedish entomologist specialising in Hemiptera. He was born at Karlberg Castle, Stockholm on 21 March 1833 and died at Frösundavik near Stockholm on 13 June 1878. He was the son ...

. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is '' Abricta brunnea'' from Mauritius and Reunion. However, recent review of the genus has shown it to be a disparate group of species, and the Australian members moved to other genera. S.M. Moulds conducted a morphological analysis of the genus and found the cicadas split naturally into clades according to biogeographical region. Of the 15 Australian species, the floury baker was the earliest offshoot. Unpublished data confirmed it was quite genetically distant from the other 14 species and so it was classified in a new monotypic genus ''

Aleeta ''Aleeta'' is a genus of cicadas with the Monotypic taxon, only species ''Aleeta curvicosta'' (commonly known as the floury baker or floury miller, known until 2003 as ''Abricta curvicosta''), one of Australia's most familiar insects. Native to ...

'', while the others were placed in the genus ''

Tryella ''Tryella'' is a genus of 14 species of cicada found in Australia and New Guinea. For many years, the members were classified in the genus ''Abricta''. However, recent review of the genus has shown it to be a disparate group of species, and the ...

''. The genus has now been restricted to two species found in the region of Mauritius and surrounds.

Species

* ''Abricta brunnea'' * ''Abricta ferruginosa''

References

External links

* Lamotialnini Hemiptera of Australia Taxa named by Carl Stål Cicadidae genera {{Cicadidae-stub