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Texas Cicada

Posted by
B. Thomas (Arlington, Texas, United States) on 9 August 2013 in Animal & Insect.

Watched a cicada coming out of it's shell one night.

Cicadas are commonly referred to as locusts which are technically grasshoppers. This common reference began when early North American settlers encountered mass emergences of periodic cicadas. Using the Bible as a guide to plagues of insects, the closest match they found was locusts and so the name stuck..

Unlike crickets and grasshoppers which make sounds by rubbing their wings and legs together, male cicadas produce sound by vibrating special membrane-like structures (tymbals) on their abdomen. The male’s enlarged abdomen is mostly filled with an air sac that functions as a resonance chamber thus greatly amplifying their songs.

There are over 40 species of Cicadas in Texas.

*Yard Art Series: photos from the backyard.

Javier from Castro-Urdiales, Spain

Great night capture, I suppose that it's interesting to see the bug going out the shell.

9 Aug 2013 5:18am

Devi from Chennai, India

Great capture and thanks for all that info:-)))

9 Aug 2013 5:34am

Jypyä Pop from Turku, Finland

It is quite fierce-looking creature. Nice picture, which shows a lot of detail.

9 Aug 2013 5:51am

Catherine from France

For your photo, just a word : superb !
Thanks a lot for the explanation you added to it.
Have a nice friday !
Catherine

9 Aug 2013 8:21am

Focales from Rhône-Alpes, France

An excellent capture Barbara. Bravo ! nice light on the cicada

9 Aug 2013 9:50am

@Focales: My husband was shining a spotlight on it.

grouser from Ludlow, United Kingdom

well caught rebirth

9 Aug 2013 10:41am

Mhelene from Villiers-sur-Marne, France

Wow ...Superb capture !

9 Aug 2013 10:47am

J.R. from Urasoe City, Japan

Great capture:)

9 Aug 2013 11:31am

tataray from Deux-Sèvres. (Charentes-Poitou), France

que de beaux détails... des ailes superbes.)

9 Aug 2013 11:35am

Curly from South Shields, United Kingdom

It's an incredible shot both for its large dof and its sharpness. The eyes are just amazing.

9 Aug 2013 12:35pm

Eric Cousineau from Sherwood Park, Canada

A beautiful nighttime capture Barbara! ;-)

9 Aug 2013 12:42pm

Judy aka L@dybug from Brooksville, FL, United States

Why does it make me shiver when I look at it? I guess from stories of the locusts I've read about. Now I know the difference, but wow, 40 species right there in Texas?
Are those round 'things' its eyes?

9 Aug 2013 1:36pm

Luc from Belgium

Excellent.... Bravo

9 Aug 2013 2:58pm

SRM from Rome, Italy

great Macro and interesting info ,tnx.

9 Aug 2013 3:20pm

Don from Spokane, United States

A fine shot of this magical moment in this bug's life. My son happened to tell me today that a large number of these can generate a loud sound that will reach 106 decibels.

9 Aug 2013 3:21pm

gerard1948 from Somewhere on earth, Spain

Excellent capture and superb macro. A very interesting picture, the details are beautiful. Thank you for the information and sharing.
Have a good weekend.

9 Aug 2013 4:19pm

jean pierre from paris, France

tres belle prise de vue nocturne!! amitiés

9 Aug 2013 5:05pm

Jen from Alpharetta, United States

Great shot, but very freaky!

9 Aug 2013 5:16pm

Loner from Wörgl, Austria

A great photo of this unusual insect !

9 Aug 2013 6:47pm

Ruthiebear from Titusville, NJ, United States

Excellent capture of it emerging from its shell.

9 Aug 2013 7:14pm

LauraS from Chico, United States

Beautiful!

9 Aug 2013 7:29pm

michel creze from le havre, France

Great !!!!!!!!!

9 Aug 2013 8:00pm

Steven from Chicagoland, United States

Finally!! Someone who has captured a cicada that is alive and not just its vacated "shell"!! Perfect timing to capture this as it emerges. Now did you know this might be happening or did you spot this by chance??

9 Aug 2013 9:01pm

@Steven: We see them all the time, but just looked out the other night and saw two on the fence. Mike shined a spotlight while I got some shots. We probably really annoyed it with the light, but it had no choice but to hang there until it's wings dried out. ;-)

Hiro from Kyoto, Japan

Wow, great capture ! You did it !

9 Aug 2013 11:59pm

john4jack from Corvallis, Oregon, United States

terrific lighting

10 Aug 2013 12:03am

@john4jack: Mike was shining our big spotlight on it so I wouldn't have to use flash.

Elaine Hancock from Rockville, United States

Fantastic capture and wonderful detail! The wings are just beautiful! We were supposed to get a huge population of cicadas this spring but they must have moved somewhere else! Very few showed up! A lot more in Virginia.

10 Aug 2013 12:11am

@Elaine Hancock: That's interesting. We have them all the time, and our summer nights are filled with their chorus.

Denny Jump Photo from Easton, PA, United States

A Great shot, barbara! W actually have cicada's here in PA as well but not for as long a period of time and these cicada's here drink Yeungling Beer instead of Miller Lite.

10 Aug 2013 1:49am

Abena from Illinois, United States

Fantastic clarity and image!!

10 Aug 2013 2:30am

L'angevine from Angers, France

marrant ce bisou

10 Aug 2013 7:24am

Julie L. Brown from Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Wow, over 40 species of cicadas in Texas alone? That is amazing.

10 Aug 2013 1:40pm