University of Alberta Museums Search

A moderate-sized, predominantly black cicada with yellowish-orange markings. The relatively narrow forewings (width:length 0.29 - 0.31) will segregate rimosa from O. bella and O. occidentalis. Very similar to O. canadensis; to reliably separate specimens of rimosa from canadensis the structure of the tymbal must be examined, which has 7 to 8 (rarely 9) ribs in rimosa and 10 to 11 ribs in canadensis (Alexander et al. 1972). In Michigan, rimosa is marked with a brighter orange compared to the tan markings of canadensis, but it is not clear if this trait holds up for Alberta populations since museum material is limited. There are likely habitat and song differences as well, but this data is also lacking for Alberta populations.

Duration of immature stages unknown, but undoubtedly several years as in other species of the genus. Males perch in various types of vegetation to sing, often among trees greater than three metres above ground. Males emit an alarm sound when handled or harassed (Cooley 2001). Females can acoustically locate calling males during flight, and approach males by walking or shorter flights once visual contact has been made (Stölting et al. 2002). Parasitoid flies are known to exploit the singing behaviour of males to locate potential host cicadas on which to deposit larvae (Lakes et al. 2000, Koehler & Lakes 2001). A song portion of O. rimosa in Michigan can be found at: http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/Michigan_Cicadas/Michigan/Index.html

Recorded from central to southern Alberta (Strickalnd 1953). Occurs from Alberta east to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, south through Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa to North Carolina and Tennessee. In the west, ranges south through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Washington, Oregon to California (Simons 1954, Maw et al. 2000, Brown & Brown 1990).