Henicopsaltria eydouxii | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hemiptera |
Suborder: | Auchenorrhyncha |
Family: | Cicadidae |
Genus: | Henicopsaltria |
Species: | H. eydouxii |
Binomial name | |
Henicopsaltria eydouxii (Guérin-Méneville), 1838 | |
Synonyms | |
Cicada eydouxiiGuérin-Méneville |
Henicopsaltria eydouxii, commonly known as the razor grinder, is a large species of cicada native to eastern Australia. [1] Predominantly brown in colour, it is found in dry and wet sclerophyll forest in December and January and is quite common in Brisbane.
The razor grinder was first described in 1838 by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville as Cicada eydouxii before being moved to the new genus Henicopsaltria in 1866. It is the type species. [2] Its common name refers to its harsh call, which has been likened to the noise of a metal grinder. [2]
The razor grinder is a large cicada with a forewing measuring 50–55 mm (2.0–2.2 in). [1] Males and females are similar in color and markings. The head and thorax is red-brown with black markings. The wings are transparent with some brown discoloration. [2]
The male's call lasts for a few seconds, increases in volume, [3] suddenly stops, and then suddenly starts again. [4] They usually silently feed throughout the afternoon, and then groups call at maximum volume around dusk. [3] There is a secondary population, referred to as the laughing razor grinder, which is only observed in rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest, and has a distinct call. [3]
Razor grinders can also emit a distress call – a fragmented irregular noise – upon being seized by a predator. [5]
Male razor grinders sing in large groups on the main trunks of tall eucalypts, especially spotted gum ( Corymbia maculata ). [1] [3] In some years their numbers can be locally immense, but in other years very few adults emerge. [6]
Adult razor grinders are wary and flighty, especially at dusk, and are difficult to approach. They are fast flyers. [2]
The razor grinder is found along the east coast of Australia from Gladstone in Central Queensland south to Narooma in southern New South Wales, generally below 500 m (550 yd) elevation. It reaches inland to Toowoomba, Inverell, Tamworth and the Capertee Valley. [2] It is common in Brisbane, [1] but uncommon in Sydney. [2] There is also an isolated population in Cathu State Forest. [3] Their habitat is dry or wet sclerophyll forest [6] or rainforest margins. They are most visible in December and January, sometimes appearing in early November in some years. [2]
The Australian brushturkey, Australian brush-turkey, or gweela, also frequently called the scrub turkey or bush turkey, is a common, widespread species of mound-building bird from the family Megapodiidae found in eastern Australia from Far North Queensland to Eurobodalla on the South Coast of New South Wales. The Australian brushturkey has also been introduced to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. It is the largest extant representative of the family Megapodiidae, and is one of three species to inhabit Australia.
The pouched frog, or hip pocket frog, is a small, terrestrial frog found in rainforests in mountain areas of south-eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. It is one of two species within the genus Assa, the other being Assa wollumbin and is part of the family Myobatrachidae.
The eastern whipbird is an insectivorous passerine bird native to the east coast of Australia. Its whip-crack song is a familiar sound in forests of eastern Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Heard much more often than seen, it is dark olive-green and black in colour with a distinctive white cheek patch and a crest. The male and female are similar in plumage.
The leaf green tree frog is a species of stream-dwelling frog, native to eastern Australia from the Queensland/New South Wales border south to Sydney.
The revealed frog, whirring tree frog, or orange-thighed treefrog is a species of tree frog native to coastal eastern Australia.
The mountain stream tree frog is a species of tree frog native to highland areas of NSW, Australia stretching from the Myall Lakes area, north to around Dorrigo National Park and west to Barrington Tops National Park.
Pearson's green tree frog, also known as the cascade tree frog, is a species of tree frog inhabiting rainforest creeks from north of Lismore, New South Wales, to Kenilworth, Queensland, with a disjunct population at Kroombit Tops Queensland, Australia.
Fleay's barred frog is a large species of frog restricted to small pockets of rainforest in northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland, Australia.
The red-legged pademelon is a species of small macropod found on the northeastern coast of Australia and in New Guinea. In Australia it has a scattered distribution from the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland to around Tamworth in New South Wales. In New Guinea it is found in south central lowlands.
Thopha saccata, the double drummer, is the largest Australian species of cicada and reputedly the loudest insect in the world. Documented by the Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1803, it was the first described and named cicada native to Australia. Its common name comes from the large dark red-brown sac-like pockets that the adult male has on each side of its abdomen—the "double drums"—that are used to amplify the sound it produces.
Dioscorea transversa, the pencil yam, is a vine of eastern and northern Australia.
Psaltoda moerens, commonly known as the redeye, is an Australian species of cicada. It is distributed through the south-east of Australia, from southern Queensland to South Australia, as well as Tasmania. Populations can vary greatly between years; one year they may be present in large numbers and the next they may be entirely absent. They feed primarily on eucalyptus but also on Angophora trees. As they feed on tree sap they expel small droplets of clear waste fluid. When numbers are high, this can form a constant stream.
Cyclochila australasiae is a species of cicada and one of Australia's most familiar insects. It is distributed through coastal regions of southeastern Australia. Green specimens are commonly known as green grocers and yellow ones as yellow mondays.
Aleeta curvicosta is a species of cicada, one of Australia's most familiar insects. Native to the continent's eastern coastline, it was described in 1834 by Ernst Friedrich Germar. The floury baker is the only described species in the genus Aleeta.
Psaltoda plaga is a species of cicada native to eastern Australia, from Maryborough in central Queensland to Bega in southern New South Wales. Adult cicadas appear over the summer and inhabit forested areas near bodies of water. The predominantly black form from the Sydney and Central Coast regions is commonly known as the black prince, while the term silver knight is used for the species as a whole.
The Eastern Australian temperate forests is a broad ecoregion of open forest on uplands starting from the east coast of New South Wales in the South Coast to southern Queensland, Australia. Although dry sclerophyll and wet sclerophyll eucalyptus forests predominate within this ecoregion, a number of distinguishable rainforest communities are present as well.
Arunta perulata is a large cicada native to Australia. It is also known as the white drummer cicada. The name floury baker was previously applied to this species, but that name is now specific to Aleeta curvicosta.
Thopha sessiliba, commonly known as the northern double drummer, is an Australian cicada native to Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. Adults perch almost exclusively on ghost gums.
Macrotristria angularis, commonly known as the cherrynose, is an Australian cicada native to eastern Australia, where it is found in sclerophyll forests.
Henicopsaltria is a genus of cicada in the cryptotympanini tribe of the Cicadinae subfamily. Four species have been described. The razorgrinder is the type species.