{"id":130923,"date":"2026-10-28T12:21:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T06:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=130923"},"modified":"2026-10-28T12:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T07:06:00","slug":"neoterpnosia-mawphlangensis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/neoterpnosia-mawphlangensis\/","title":{"rendered":"New Cicada Species Neoterpnosia mawphlangensis Discovered in Meghalaya"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Neoterpnosia mawphlangensis Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new species of the genus Neoterpnosia (Neoterpnosia mawphlangensis sp. nov.) was recently described from the semi-evergreen forests of Mawphlang Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Neoterpnosia mawphlangensis<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a <\/span><b>new species of cicada.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was discovered in forests of <\/span><b>Mawphlang in Meghalaya\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/khasi-hills\/\" target=\"_blank\">East Khasi Hills <\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at elevations of 1,378 to 1,605 metres.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is distinguished by characteristic structures in the male reproductive organs, along with distinctive markings on its transparent wings.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is <\/span><b>active mainly around dawn<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>calls from the upper branches and foliage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of <\/span><b>subtropical pine forests.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Males <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">typically <\/span><b>begin singing at around 6 pm<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, often<\/span><b> forming a chorus<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that can continue for about 30 minutes under suitable weather conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The insects were observed<\/span><b> calling during misty and rainy weather<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but stopped during heavy rain.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers also noted that they are <\/span><b>well camouflaged among moss<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and are not attracted to light.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What are Cicadas?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are a family of more than 3,000 species of<\/span><b> sound-producing insects.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are known for their loud, complex and species-specific acoustic signals or songs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are found worldwide, with the <\/span><b>highest diversity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> occurring in <\/span><b>tropical regions.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Lifecycle<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cicada lifecycle <\/span><b>begins <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with an <\/span><b>adult female laying eggs <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in slits she created in <\/span><b>tree branches or stems.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once the <\/span><b>eggs hatch<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the<\/span><b> nymphs fall to the ground and burrow into the soil, feeding on plant sap <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for several years.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once the<\/span><b> mature nymphs <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have <\/span><b>emerged from the groun<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">d, they\u2019ll firmly <\/span><b>attach <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">themselves to a <\/span><b>tree branch or other natural element<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to molt and <\/span><b>transform into an adult.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From here, they\u2019ll <\/span><b>live <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for approximately <\/span><b>four to six weeks.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>lifespan <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of cicadas <\/span><b>varies <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">depending on the species and whether they are annual or periodical cicadas.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Annual cicadas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> typically live for <\/span><b>four to six weeks as adults.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Periodical cicadas <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have much <\/span><b>longer lifespans<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> due to their <\/span><b>extended nymphal periods<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which can last either <\/span><b>13 or 17 years,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> depending on the species.\u00a0 Once they emerge, they also live for a few weeks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Male cicadas produce loud calls<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> using specialised organs called tymbals, located on their abdomen, to attract females. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/threatenedtaxa.org\/index.php\/JoTT\/article\/view\/10642\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>TAXA<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers have described Neoterpnosia mawphlangensis, a new cicada species found in Meghalaya&#8217;s East Khasi Hills. The discovery highlights the region&#8217;s rich biodiversity and the distinctive calls used to identify the insect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":130917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11186],"class_list":["post-130923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","tag-neoterpnosia-mawphlangensis","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130923"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130953,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130923\/revisions\/130953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}