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First Breeding Record of the Cicada Okanagana rimosa Say (Say’s Cicada) in New Jersey
Scott E. McDonnell and David P. Moskowitz

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 19, Issue 1 (2012): 140–142

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140 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 19, No. 1 140 First Breeding Record of the Cicada Okanagana rimosa Say (Say’s Cicada) in New Jersey Scott E. McDonnell1,* and David P. Moskowitz1,2 Abstract - The range of Okanagana rimosa (Say’s Cicada) in eastern North America appears to be widespread but patchy. We report the first known occurrence of mating by the species in New Jersey. We also report the first known record of the species from the state from a previously unpublished specimen collected in 1942 and deposited in the American Museum of Natural History collection. These two reports spanning 68 years are the only known specimens from New Jersey. On 8 June 2010, a copulating pair of the cicada Okanagana rimosa Say (Say’s Cicada) was collected by S.E. McDonnell within the Rockaway River Wildlife Management Area, Jefferson Township, Morris County, NJ (Fig. 1). The cicadas were first observed on the 1EcolSciences, Inc. 75 Fleetwood Drive, Suite 250, Rockaway, NJ 07866. 2Rutgers University Entomology Program, New Brunswick, NJ. *Corresponding author - smcdonnell@ecolsciences.com. Figure 1. Photograph (dorsal view) of the breeding pair (Leftfemale / Right-male) of the cicada Okanagana rimosa Say collected by S. McDonnell within the Rockaway River Wildlife Management Area, Jefferson Township, Morris County, NJ. Notes of the Northeastern Nat u ral ist, Issue 19/1, 2012 2012 Northeastern Naturalist Notes 141 ground in copula at approximately 14:30 within an emergent wetland on the east side of Beaver Brook, at the edge of a deciduous wooded slope, immediately north of an electric transmission line right-of-way (40.986°N, 74.563°W). A subsequent search with J. Cooley on 18 June 2010 failed to locate any additional specimens or exuviae. The collected pair was examined by J. Cooley, and the male appeared more orange in color than is typical of the species in other parts of the range (J. Cooley, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 18 June 2010 pers. comm.). However, both the male and the female were confirmed as O. rimosa by J. Cooley (17 July 2010 pers. comm.) through examination of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase II gene, which is commonly used in the phylogenetic analysis of cicadas (Arensburger et al. 2004a, b; Buckley et al. 2002; Marshall et al. 2008). This case is the first known evidence of breeding by the species in New Jersey and only the second and third specimens known to be collected in the state. The cicadas will be deposited in the Rutgers University Insect Collection as voucher specimens. The range of O. rimosa in eastern North America appears to be widespread but patchy (Brown and Brown 1990; Bunker 2007; Davis 1919, 1926, 1930, 1941). There is a single reference of its potential to occur in New Jersey in early New Jersey entomological literature (Smith 1899); however, in a subsequent report, the species was listed as “probably not a part of our fauna” (NJSM 1909). An early review of the cicada fauna of the state also indicated the species had not been found in New Jersey (Davis 1926). There are no specimens in the Rutgers University Insect Collection. The distribution of O. rimosa was extensively investigated by A. Sanborn through a search of records and specimens in more then 100 institutions. No specimens attributable to New Jersey were initially found (A. Sanborn, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL, 12 June 2010 pers. comm.). However, a subsequent search of the American Museum of Natural Figure 2. Photograph (dorsal view) of the cicada Okanagana rimosa Say specimen collected in New Jersey by M. Cazier in 1942 and currently held within the collections of the American Museum of Natural History. 142 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 19, No. 1 History collections yielded a previously unrecorded specimen of O. rimosa collected at Greenwood Lake, NJ by M. Cazier in 1942 (Fig. 2; C. Johnson, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 29 October 2010 pers. comm.). The appearance of this specimen is consistent with O. rimosa (A. Sanborn and J. Cooley, 13 November 2010 pers. comm.). It is the first known O. rimosa specimen attributable to New Jersey and the only known O. rimosa specimen from the state prior to the recent collection by S. McDonnell. Outside of New Jersey, the nearest previously known records of O. rimosa were from Pike County in eastern Pennsylvania (Davis 1926) and from Rockland, Orange, and Queens counties in eastern New York (A. Sanborn, 25 October 2010 pers. comm.). Acknowledgments. We are extremely appreciative of the assistance given by John Cooley in understanding the distribution of O. rimosa in New Jersey and elsewhere and for confi rming the species identification, to Allen Sanborn for sharing the results of his exhaustive distributional investigations, and to both John and Allen for their review and helpful comments that improved this manuscript. We also thank George Hamilton and Frank Carle of the Department of Entomology at Rutgers University for assistance with the preparation of tissue samples and for their generous use of the Rutgers University Insect Collection, Christine Johnson for her review of the cicada collection at the American Museum of Natural History, Jason Weintraub for his review of the cicada collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Ed Johnson for his review of the cicada collection at the Staten Island Museum. Finally, we also thank EcolSciences, Inc., Rockaway, NJ for the opportunity and resources to conduct the fieldwork and to prepare this manuscript. Literature Cited Arensburger, P., T.R. Buckley, C. Simon, M. Moulds, and K.E. Holsinger. 2004a. Biogeography and phylogeny of the New Zealand cicada genera (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA data. Journal of Biogeography 31:557–569. Arensburger, P., C. Simon, and K. Holsinger. 2004b. Evolution and phylogeny of the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia Dugdale (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadidae), with special reference to the origin of the Kermadec and Norfolk Islands’ species. Journal of Biogeography 31:1769–1783. Brown, E.E., and J.D. Brown. 1990. Occurrence of a northern cicada, Okanagana rimosa (Homoptera: Cicadidae), in the southern Appalachians. Brimleyana 16:5–7. Bunker, G. 2007. June 30th, 2007: After four years of searching, Okanagana rimosa finally found in Massachusetts! Available online at http://www.mechaworx.com/cicada/okanagana.asp. Accessed 27 October 2010. Buckley, T.R., P. Arensburger, C. Simon, and G.K. Chambers. 2002. Combined data, Bayesian phylogenetics, and the origin of the New Zealand cicada genera. Systematic Biology 51(1):4–18. Davis, W.T. 1919. Cicadas of the Genera Okanagana, Tibicinoides, and Okanagodes, with descriptions of several new species. Journal New York Entomological Society 27:179–223. Davis, W.T. 1926. The cicadas or harvest flies of New Jersey. State of New Jersey Department of Agriculture Circular 97:3–26. Davis, W.T. 1930.The distribution of cicadas in the United States, with descriptions of new species. Journal New York Entomological Society 38:53–73. Davis W.T. 1941. New cicadas from North America, with notes. Journal New York Entomological Society 49:85–99. Marshall, D.C., K. Slon, J.R. Cooley, K.B. Hill, and C. Simon. 2008. Steady Plio-Pleistocene diversifi cation and 2-million-year sympatry threshold in a New Zealand cicada radiation. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48:1054–1066. New Jersey State Museum (NJSM). 1909. Annual report of the New Jersey State Museum including a report on the insects of New Jersey. Trenton, NJ. Smith, J. 1899. Insects of New Jersey. A list of species occurring in New Jersey with notes on those of economic importance. Twenty-seventh Annual Report of the State Board of Agriculture, Trenton, NJ.