Abstract
In order to broaden our understanding about cicada diversity of northeastern India, a comprehensive survey was conducted in the year 2017, in Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya and an occasional opportunistic survey was carried out in northern West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh. During these surveys, we came across four species of cicadas, viz., Meimuna duffelsi, Dundubia annandalei, Balinta tenebricosa, and Orientopsaltria fangrayae, which were not reported from India earlier and among them the genus Orientopsaltria is being reported for the first time from the country. This work provides an account of the taxonomy, natural history, distribution, and acoustics of these four species of cicadas along with their attribute to the culture and customs of the indigenous tribes of the landscape.
Highlights
Considering the crucial biogeographic role that the Indian subcontinent plays and the fact that the generic diversity of cicadas in India ranks highest in the world, it is unfortunate that very little research has been conducted on them since the early part of the 20th century (Price et al 2016)
In order to aid in the understanding on the cicada diversity of India, we conducted rapid surveys from February to December 2017, in different localities of Garo Hills, Khasi Hills, and Jaintia Hills of the Indian state of Meghalaya which falls under the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot
We conducted an opportunistic survey in the northern parts of West Bengal from the year March 2014 to May 2019 and in Assam in the year 2017 and 2018 where the cicadas were only recorded and observed but not collected
Summary
Considering the crucial biogeographic role that the Indian subcontinent plays and the fact that the generic diversity of cicadas in India ranks highest in the world, it is unfortunate that very little research has been conducted on them since the early part of the 20th century (Price et al 2016). In order to aid in the understanding on the cicada diversity of India, we conducted rapid surveys from February to December 2017, in different localities of Garo Hills, Khasi Hills, and Jaintia Hills of the Indian state of Meghalaya which falls under the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. A more focused survey was conducted in Arunachal Pradesh in October 2018 where cicadas were extensively sampled. After a proper taxonomic diagnosis and call analysis of those, four of them, viz., Meimuna duffelsi Boulard, 2005, Dundubia annandalei Boulard, 2007, Balinta tenebricosa (Distant, 1888), and Orientopsaltria fangrayae Boulard, 2001 turned out to be new reports for India
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