| Cicadetta | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cicadetta radiator - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Auchenorrhyncha |
| Family: | Cicadidae |
| Tribe: | Cicadettini |
| Genus: | Cicadetta Kolenati, 1857 |
Cicadetta is a genus of generally small-bodied annual cicadas widespread across portions of the Palearctic, Indomalayan, and Afrotropical realms.[1] In older scientific and taxonomic literature, this genus was popularly referred to as Melampsalta. These cicadas occur in a diverse spectrum of habitats, although most taxa are typically associated with weedy meadows and tallgrass prairie ecosystems. Several related species from North America were recently transferred to the genus Cicadettana.[2]
Many members of the genus inhabit Southern Europe, Greece, Anatolia, and coastal Mediterranean regions, and they have a long history of association with the civilizations of those areas; revered by many cultures for their complex, loud, and sometimes melodic courtship calls.
Most of the cicadas within this genus are classified by conservation groups as least concern, although many species are endemic to a particular isolated area or threatened by habitat loss primarily due to grazing.
- ^ Sanborn, Allen; Phillips, Polly (9 April 2013). "Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico". Diversity. 5 (2): 166–239. doi:10.3390/d5020166. ISSN 1424-2818.
- ^ Marshall, David C.; Hill, Kathy B. R. (2017). "A new genus for North American Cicadetta species (Hemiptera: Cicadidae)". Zootaxa. 4306 (4): 537–550. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4306.4.5. ISSN 1175-5334.