cfarstar
Finding the Light
Newly moulted Cicada found in one of the oldest cemeteries in Toronto, Canada.
"Cicadas are essentially tropical and subtropical insects, but with few species in desert regions of the world. There are at least 2,500 species in 347 genera world-wide (2008). Most show strong affinities to adjacent countries, as one would expect from insects that do not fly long distances; but a few have relatives in far-flung portions of the globe. Some of the faunal exchanges (such as in the genus Tibicen) appear to date from more than 10 million years ago when world temperatures were much higher than now, because these genera are northern, across the Bering Strait dividing North America from Asia. Some other genera appear to be southern, spread across what is now vast expanses of ocean and polar ice cap (as in the flightless leafhopper family Myerslopiidae, known only from New Zealand and Chile). Such ancient faunas date back more than 100 million years, when the southern continents were connected into one gigantic, tropical land mass. If verified, such widespread genera would give clear evidence of the antiquity of these cicada genera."
From agr.gc.ca/eng/science-and-innovation/research-centres/ontario
Finding the Light
Newly moulted Cicada found in one of the oldest cemeteries in Toronto, Canada.
"Cicadas are essentially tropical and subtropical insects, but with few species in desert regions of the world. There are at least 2,500 species in 347 genera world-wide (2008). Most show strong affinities to adjacent countries, as one would expect from insects that do not fly long distances; but a few have relatives in far-flung portions of the globe. Some of the faunal exchanges (such as in the genus Tibicen) appear to date from more than 10 million years ago when world temperatures were much higher than now, because these genera are northern, across the Bering Strait dividing North America from Asia. Some other genera appear to be southern, spread across what is now vast expanses of ocean and polar ice cap (as in the flightless leafhopper family Myerslopiidae, known only from New Zealand and Chile). Such ancient faunas date back more than 100 million years, when the southern continents were connected into one gigantic, tropical land mass. If verified, such widespread genera would give clear evidence of the antiquity of these cicada genera."
From agr.gc.ca/eng/science-and-innovation/research-centres/ontario