Northern double drummer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Northern double drummer |
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| adult male | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
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| Order: | |
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| Genus: |
Thopha
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| Species: |
T. sessiliba
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| Binomial name | |
| Thopha sessiliba Distant, 1892
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| Synonyms | |
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Thopha stentor Buckton |
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The Thopha sessiliba, often called the northern double drummer, is a large cicada found in Australia. It lives in Queensland, the Northern Territory, and northern Western Australia. These cicadas mostly hang out on ghost gum trees. A scientist named William Lucas Distant first described this cicada in 1892.
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About the Northern Double Drummer
The northern double drummer is a very large cicada. It is the second biggest cicada in Australia. It is only a little smaller than the biggest one, which is called the double drummer.
What Does It Look Like?
Both male and female northern double drummers are about 4.56 centimeters (about 1.8 inches) long. Their body, called the thorax, is about 1.85 centimeters wide.
- Eyes: They have light brown eyes with a hint of purple.
- Head: The head can be different colors, but it is never black. The front part of the head, called the postclypeus, is dark reddish-brown.
- Body: The main part of their body (thorax) is brown with lighter golden-brown marks. The top middle part of the thorax is brown with a purple tint. The underside of the thorax is reddish-brown and covered in soft, silvery hairs.
- Abdomen: The back part of the body (abdomen) is dark brown. The first two parts of the abdomen are covered in grey hairs. There is also a whitish band of hair near the end of the abdomen.
- Wings: Their wings are clear and see-through, like glass. The veins in the wings are light brown.
- Legs: Their legs are brown and have fine, grey, velvety hairs.
When Can You See Them?
Adult northern double drummers start to appear in September. You can see them until the end of April. They are most common during December and January.
Where Do They Live?
The northern double drummer lives in many parts of Australia. You can find them from Gladstone in southeast Queensland, all the way north to Cape York. They also live in Mount Isa, across eastern and northern Northern Territory, and into northern Western Australia. This includes places like the Kimberley, Broome, and Mundiwindi.
They prefer to live on eucalyptus trees. They especially like smooth-barked trees, such as the ghost gum (Corymbia aparrerinja), which are common in Central Australia.
