CicadaCicada Index Desert Screamer (Burbunga hillieri) Double Drummer (Thopha saccata) Floury Baker (Aleeta curvicosta) Masked Devil (Cyclochila australasiae) Orange Drummer (Thopha colorata) Razor Grinder (Henicopsaltria eydouxii) White Drummer (Arunta perulata)
Known as the White Drummer (Arunta perulata), this species is a large cicada that is native to Australia. The male white drummer body length is about 3.75 cm, whilst the female is a fraction smaller, approximately 3.72 cm.
The head of Arunta perulata is green with prominent dark red-brown markings and a green midline along pronotum. The thorax and abdomen are predominantly dark red-brown in colour and the eyes are a dark red-brown. On the body are depressions covered with yellow velvety fur-like appearance. The prominent sac-like tymbal covers are white. The legs of the White Drummer are yellow-green marked with dark brown and black. The wings of the White Drummer are clear with reddish brown and yellowish veins. In males the wings measure up to 4.97 cm long and 4.84 cm long in females.
The White Drummer sing during the day and at dusk, they make a rattle-like call, that carries over long distance. The call consists of a series of pulses, its sac-like tymbal covers amplifying its call.
The White Drummer is found along Australia’s eastern coastline, from Cooktown in northern Queensland to Narooma in southern New South Wales, although it has been observed from the far northern Cape York. Their preferred habitat is swampy forest and mangroves, the cicadas often found on trees such as Sheoak (Casuarina equisetifolia), Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca), Coast Banksia (Banksia integrifolia) and Coast Wattle (Acacia sophorae). The adult cicada appear in December to January.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Hemiptera
- Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha
- Infraorder: Cicadomorpha
- Superfamily: Cicadoidea
- Family: Cicadidae
- Subfamily: Cicadinae
- Tribe: Thophini
- Genus: Arunta
- Species: Arunta perulata
Footnote & References
- White Drummer (Arunta perulata), Emerald Beach NSW © Norm Farmer
- Arunta perulata (Guérin-Méneville, 1831), White Drummer, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Arunta perulata
CicadaCicada Index Desert Screamer (Burbunga hillieri) Double Drummer (Thopha saccata) Floury Baker (Aleeta curvicosta) Masked Devil (Cyclochila australasiae) Orange Drummer (Thopha colorata) Razor Grinder (Henicopsaltria eydouxii) White Drummer (Arunta perulata)
InsectsBees Beetles Blattodea Butterflies Coleoptera Cicada Crabronidae Diptera Dragonflies & Damselflies Formicidae Hemiptera Heteroptera Moths Orthoptera Orthopteroid Processionary Caterpillar Stink Bugs, Shield Bugs and Allies Wasps Water Scorpion (Laccotrephes tristis) Witchetty Grub