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Dog Day Cicada, Tibicen canicularis

When this weirdo appeared in our garden, I had no idea what it was. After half an hour of Internet research, I am ready to pronounce it a "Dog Day Cicada," scientifically known as Tibicen canicularis. Here's an image from Dave's Garden so you can judge for yourself. Note the green wings and green spot in the centre of the forehead.

All the photos I used for identification show solid-looking critters. My specimen seems a bit squisy and newly-hatched in comparison. Cicadas are normally heard and not seen, so it was fun to find one sitting in our Impatiens.

2 comments:

E. McPan said...

When I was little, we had cicadas every summer, so I could have told you what it was. :) They would leave their little shells stuck to every vertical surface. We played with them. A couple of years ago, I realized that we hadn't had cicadas probably since the time I was 12 or so. I wonder what happened to them.

Sui Generis said...

They come in Broods! I'm no cicada expert, but the location of hatching in a given year probably affects their geographical distribution.