Diceroprocta viridifascia Walker

Diceroprocta viridifascia (Walker) (Figs. 12, 25–33)

Cicada viridifascia Walker, 1850: 121. Type locality: unknown. The collection locality of the type specimen was unknown to Walker. Holotype male is in the Natural History Museum, London. Cicada reperta Uhler, 1892b: 177.

Adults first emerge in late May and can be heard singing until mid-October. The most common collection dates are in July and August. Males may call from the same perch for several days (Alexander and Moore 1962). The song has been described as a continuous “zeekie, zeekie, zeekie” (Davis 1918, 1922) and has a very orthopteran character.

Diceroprocta viridifascia is primarily associated with coastal environs but can be found inland along sandy ridges within the Southern Coastal Plains and Southern Florida Coastal Plain ecoregions with a single specimen reported from the Southeastern Plains ecoregion (Fig. 12). Van Duzee (1909) collected specimens from tall “bunch grass” (no species given) on Estero Island. Osborn (1921) states that the species oviposits in stems of sea oats (Uniola sp.) in the tidal zone of the shoreline. The species has been reported to oviposit in sea oats (Metcalf 1920) and grasses (Metcalf and Osborn 1920) in North Carolina. We have also collected the species in oaks (Quercus spp.) and other small trees in coastal habitats and inland along sandy ridges. It has been collected in 32 counties in Florida: Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Citrus, Collier, Dade, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Indian River, Jackson, Lee, Levy, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, St. John’s, St. Lucie, Volusia, Wakulla and Walton.