Aleeta curvicosta

Description

Aleeta curvicosta (commonly known as the floury baker or floury miller, known until 2003 as Abricta curvicosta) is a species of cicada, one of Australia's most familiar insects. Native to the continent's eastern coastline, it was described in 1834 by Ernst Friedrich Germar. The floury baker is the only described species in the genus Aleeta. The floury baker's distinctive appearance and loud call make it popular with children. Both the common and genus name are derived from the white, flour-like filaments covering the adult body. Its body and eyes are generally brown with pale patterns including a light-coloured line along the midline of the pronotum. Its forewings have distinctive dark brown patches at the base of two of their apical cells. The female is larger than the male, although species size overall varies geographically, with larger animals associated with regions of higher rainfall. The male has distinctive genitalia and a loud and complex call generated by the frequent buckling of ribbed tymbals and amplified by abdominal air sacs. The floury baker is solitary and occurs in low densities. Individuals typically emerge from the soil through a three-month period from late November to late February, and can be encountered until May. The floury baker is found on a wide variety of trees, with some preference for species of paperbark (Melaleuca). It is a relatively poor flier, preyed upon by cicada killer wasps and a wide variety of birds, and can succumb to a cicada-specific fungal disease. The wings are transparent with black or brown veins and a brown-black patch at the base of apical cells 2 and 3. These patches are sometimes fused into a continuous zigzag of dark brown to black discolouration.The basal cell is often opaque and amber-coloured. As on many insects, the wing membranes are coated on either side by a repeating pattern of cuticular nanostructures,about 200 nm in height, separated by about 180 nm.These are thought to aid in anti-reflective camouflage, anti-wetting and self-cleaning.