Amphipsalta cingulata
Amphipsalta cingulata, the clapping cicada, is a species of cicada that is endemic to New Zealand.
Taxonomy
This species was first described in 1775 by Johan [Christian Fabricius|Johann Christian Fabricius] based on four specimens. Fabricius had been given the specimens by naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, who had collected them from First [voyage of James Cook#New Zealand|New Zealand while on the voyage] of the HMS Endeavour under then-Lieutenant James Cook. Banks and his assistants are recorded to have collected nine cicada specimens from New Zealand, though neither he nor Cook mention the insects in their diaries.In 1921 the species was transferred to the genus Melampsalta and then to Cicadetta in 1963. In 1969 the species was reclassified into a new genus, Amphipsalta, by John Stweart Dugdale and Charles Alexander Fleming. The pair also designated the male first syntype from Banks' collection a lectotype.