Is this a cicada of some sort? Found in Chicago today. It made sort of a buzzing cicada noise.
No photo, but if it’s around an inch long, with clear, veiny wings, and big, faceted eyes, it’s a cicada.
Yes, that is a cicada
Thanks!
beowulff, how did you know, when there wasn’t even a picture up yet? Is it that once-in-seventeen-years again that the cicadas fly?
The one in the photo is an annual cicada, that emerge every year, not a periodical (13 or 17 year) cicada.
If it walks like a duck…
Really, there aren’t too many insects that sound like a Cicada. Also, they are very seasonal, so this is the time that they would be appearing, and they are pretty big as insects go, so they tend to attract attention.
They are interesting critters. I believe that they are the longest-lived insects, and have a very distinct niche in the environment. They are essentially invisible for 99.99% of their life, and then they emerge, make a lot of noise, and die all within a few days.
I love cicadas. They are gentle and fascinating.
And people claim they taste a bit like canned asparagus :). A claim I have no wish to test myself, coward that I am.
Bug questions on the SDMB nearly always have the same answers.
“What’s this big flying/buzzing bug” is usually a cicada
“What’s this leggy bug” is usually a house centipede
“What’s this huge ugly-ass bug” is usually a Jerusalem cricket
Did you find that in Seattle? I didn’t think they could survive here.
The last time I asked, it was a ten-lined June beetle. Thank goodness it wasn’t a Jerusalem cricket or a house centipede.
pity it’s dead. Talk about a buzz kill.
Cicada was in Chicago. Still is.
No, that would be a termite queen which in certain species can live around 50 years.
The three most asked bug questions on the SDM…
The four most asked bug questions on the SDMB are…
Carpet beetle larvae!
I’ll start again . . .
CMC fnord!
Cicadas in New Zealand are kind of small and skinny things, maybe an inch or so long including wings and legs. When I moved to Australia and saw what’s here, huge monstrous beasts that fly at your head and scream, I was most alarmed and fascinated.
Did it taste like asparagus?
Ew, yuck, canned asparagus. I’d rather eat a cicada than that.