Aleeta

Aleeta

Aleeta curvicosta, commonly known as the floury baker or floury miller and known until 2003 as Abricta curvicosta, is a species of cicada and one of Australia's most familiar insects. It is commonly found in the states of Queensland and New South Wales, along the continent's eastern coastlines, between November and May. It was described in 1834 by Ernst Friedrich Germar. As of 2013 it is the only described species in the genus Aleeta.

Both the common and genus name are derived from the flour-like white filaments covering the adult body. Its eyes and body are generally brown with pale patterns including a pale line along the midline of the pronotum. Its forewings have distinctive dark brown patches at the base of two of their apical cells. It also has very distinctive male genitalia. The female is larger than the male, and the size also varies geographically, with larger animals associated with regions of higher rainfall. The male has a loud and complex call, generated by the frequent buckling of ribbed tymbals, and amplified by its abdominal air sacs.

A solitary cicada, the floury baker occurs in low densities, and individuals typically emerge throughout a three-month period from late November to late February. It can be found on a wide variety of trees, with some preference for some species of Melaleuca. It is popular with children on account of its distinctive appearance and loud call. It is preyed upon by birds, cicada killer wasps, and a cicada-specific fungal disease.

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