New to Nature No 9: Sinotympana incomparabilis

Sinotympana incomparabilis is a new genus and species of cicada. Although from southern China, the new species was discovered among unidentified specimens in the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels. Most insect songs, for example in crickets and kadydids, are produced by stridulation – rubbing two body parts together. Male cicadas, in contrast, "sing" by rapidly vibrating special ribbed membranes on their exoskeleton called tymbals. Their noise is unusually loud, as a result of amplification by internal resonance chambers, and can reach 120 decibels in some species. Both males and females hear the songs via another set of membranes called tympana. The life cycle of this Chinese species is not yet known, but most cicadas live two to five years. In the extreme case of certain periodic cicadas, synchronized broods emerge once each 13 or 17 years. International Institute for Species Exploration, Arizona State University