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On the evolution of cicada X host-tree associations in Central America

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Abstract

An hypothesis tout court is proposed to account for the association of cicadas (Homoptera: Cicadidae) with large-sized trees of the family Leguminosae in both climax forest formations and forest remnants in Central America. Based upon extensive field studies of these insects in Costa Rica, final-instar nymphal skins of many genera and species of Neotropical cicadas appear to be aggregated annually around individual large legume trees in a broad range of habitats in Costa Rica, and much of the reproductive behavior of the adult insects is also centered around these trees. A series of testable subhypotheses are generated based largely upon the assumption that cicadas, primarily through egg-placement behavior and nymphal feeding behavior, have coevolved with legume trees in climax forest formations of Central America, and perhaps elsewhere in the Neotropical Region. The “root crowns” of such trees, with some exceptions, might be optimal feeding sites for cicada nymphs in tropical forests.

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  1. Invertebrate Zoology Section, Milwaukee Public Museum, 53233, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

    Allen M. Young

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Young, A.M. On the evolution of cicada X host-tree associations in Central America. Acta Biotheor 33, 163–198 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052644

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