Morphometrics of the final instar exuviae of five cicada species occurring in urban areas of central Korea

Cicadas produce loud calling songs for mate attraction that can be a nuisance to city dwellers in Korea. Exuviae of final instars can be used to estimate population density. We investigated the morphological characteristics of final instar exuviae for five cicada species that are abundant in central Korea: Cryptotympana atrata, Hyalessa fuscata, Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata, Meimuna opalifera, and Meimuna mongolica. The characters analyzed were pro-mesonotum length, pronotum width, pronotum length, head width, abdominal circumference, body length, wing length, and femoral tooth angle. The results of a general linear model showed that species and sex were significant for morphological characters, and the result of post hoc analyses revealed that the mean values of most of the morphological characters measured were significantly different among the five cicada species. Three groups, Cryptotympana atrata, H. fuscata/G. nigrofuscata, and M. opalifera/M. mongolica, were distinctively identified based on most morphological characters. The distributions of femoral tooth angles did not overlap between H. fuscata and G. nigrofuscata, and the distributions of abdominal circumference did not overlap between M. opalifera and M. mongolica. Thus, the exuviae of all five cicada species could be easily distinguished based on morphological characters. We also provide a morphological key for the exuviae of all five cicada species in Korea. [Display omitted] ► We investigate morphometrics of final instar exuviae for 5 cicada species in Korea. ► Cryptotympana atrata, Hyalessa fuscata, Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata, Meimuna opalifera and Meimuna mongolica ► Most morphological characters are significantly different among 5 cicada species. ► We provide an identification key for the exuviae of 5 cicada species.