This cool creature was moving sluggishly on the ground in the garden when I first saw it (perhaps it had recently emerged -- I found a discarded cicada casing in the same area this morning), and it soon began trying (in vain) to climb up a metal post in the garden's corner. I took pity on the little guy and moved it to a nearby tree trunk, where it immediately started climbing, looking much happier to be on a surface it could actually grip.
A kind and knowledgeable person on BugGuide.net helped me out by identifying this as a Lyric Cicada (Tibicen lyricen). These types of cicadas are not the 13- or 17-year periodical varieties that people get so excited about. (I remember when those cicadas emerged in Maryland a few years ago... talk about an intense experience!) The Tibicen larvae live for only a few years underground before emerging as adults, and their cycles are staggered, so you're likely to see the same species every year.
I think cicadas are super awesome, partially because they're so big and monstrous, but also because they're really quite beautiful. That's a nice shade of green on those wings, and if you look closely in the first two pictures (click to zoom in), you can see the three ocelli, small light-sensitive eyes, glimmering like orange jewels in the middle of this creature's forehead.
I hope I picked a good tree for you to live in, little creature! Yay, cicadas!
(P.S. I'm playing around with a new format for the blog, with bigger pictures, so do let me know if the pictures are TOO big!)
The photos are GREAT! I really love cicadas and the large photos really help us to see the details. I wish I knew how to make my photos larger.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jackie! I made my photos bigger by using Blogger's "extra-large" setting when I added the images, and I had to adjust the width of the entire blog template so the pictures wouldn't spill over the sides. I like the smaller photos, too (less scrolling through long posts), it's just so much extra work to click on the pictures to see them larger. :P
ReplyDeleteThose are wicked cool bugs. How big are they? I like the photos bigger but don't mind clicking either. I think the extra-size pics for this post, focussing one species really worked well. Brill.
ReplyDeleteYes, cicadas are really cool -- glad you think so, too, Mel! I didn't measure this one, but it was probably 3 inches long, including the wings. They're pretty big as far as bugs go!
ReplyDelete3 inches!!!!! That's a big bug. We don't have them over here (in England0. More's the pity. M
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos! re: size - either way - I really enjoy exploring with you! I have a little point and shoot and most times really close up shots defy me. Isn't the natural world 'wunnerful"! :-)
ReplyDeleteLizzy...could it be a tickweed sunflower?
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.ncmls.org/greg-dodge/files/2009/10/9_tickseed_s.jpg
Hi Joe, thanks for the suggestion! (You're referring to the picture of the yellow flower in this post, right? http://woodswalksandwildlife.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-meadows-again-birds-bugs-and.html) Hmm, I think it might be something else, though.... The tickseed sunflower looks like it has toothed compound leaves, and the plant I saw had oval leaves that were a little fuzzy. It's still a mystery, but whatever it was, it was a pretty little thing.
ReplyDelete