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T ermine with the notes of a very productive field day in mid-August between the Najarra and the peak of the Bailanderos. In addition to spiders and butterflies, again I found some old known Steropleurus stalii, we saw last year and already shown in this post " The buzzer mountaineer." Then it was time to start, in the month of October, at Seven Peaks. Now I found a large gathering of copies uploaded on the broom. And though I looked good eye, photographed without hesitation. singing males and females, were engaged in courtship and copulation. While there I caught a couple at the time any more privacy, with its abundance can shoot without disturbing examples of both sexes and the two main colors from green to brown, almost black.

females, as we saw in the other input, have that kind of style, ovipositor, to make a hole in the ground and put in it eggs. Males, however, as we see below, none.

male specimen

Green Female

Female dark.

But what is it about the female end of the abdomen? At first glance it may seem that we are eggs, but the animal is in the branches of broom has no logic, because the lay buried in the ground. That is a strange gelatinous spermatophore, a package that is full of nutrients together with sperm. The female will absorb its contents to fertilize the eggs. Once its function, it seems, it is not strange that the female consumes the spermatophore remains. Similarly, many animals die after exhausting sessions and female reproductive survivors do not forgo the opportunity to consume, they are predators and, if the opportunity arises, cannibals.

few days later, wanting to release a new flash, I went to visit the broom in search of females mated, for they were already laying eggs, and ... Absolute failure! After two hours dedicated solely to searching in the same broom which had been the party gave up the attempt and returned the car with his head down, to find a male solo right at the edge of the park, perched on a herb, and surrounded by trash. Maybe by mid-October, the same as last year, is when they come out. No I doubt that I'll try again.

Finally, a caveat: There is a very similar species, Ephippiger Ephippiger , which is also quite abundant in the Iberian peninsular, but it is not very high mountain and the star of today. In addition, Steropleurus stalii is very abundant in the central system and almost certainly to see the cicadas in the mountains in this area will be from this species.

For those who have doubts, I invite you to look for the two species in the web of biodiversity virtual to try to assess differences in the hand of a true expert.