Cicada

Cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera. They have large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2500 species around the world, many still are unclassified.

Cicadas are commonly called "locusts", although they are unrelated to true locusts, which are a kind of grasshopper. They are also known as "jar flies".They are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. Another common name is "dry fly".

These insects make an unusual sound at night. They make a very loud clicking noise and at night you can hear a constant roar of their songs.

The female makes a slit in a twig and lays her eggs, often several hundred. Newborn nymphs drop to the ground where they borrow. Most Cicadas have a 3 - 5 year life cycle although some in North American can live up to 17 years. When the nymphs emerge from underground, they molt, (shed their skins), on a nearby plant or twig for the last time and emerge as an adult. Click on picture and notice the detail of the adult.

"Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left."

Exodus 10:13-15