What bug is this?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

mikepinto65

Minister of Fire
Nov 5, 2008
684
Webster, MA
I have never in my life seen this bug. Can anyone here I.D. it?
 

Attachments

  • P1010012.JPG
    P1010012.JPG
    132.7 KB · Views: 632
  • P1010013.JPG
    P1010013.JPG
    131.2 KB · Views: 596
  • P1010024.JPG
    P1010024.JPG
    65.4 KB · Views: 616
here is another for sizing. my phone measures 2"x4"
 

Attachments

  • P1010025.JPG
    P1010025.JPG
    112.4 KB · Views: 588
They have interesting life cycles, depending on the exact species. Some are on a 17 year cycle. We had a group last year that would blast your ears out! Every day you could hear the low hum in the background, which sounded like the saws at the local saw mill running. Fascinating creatures. My younger daughter is always fascinated by the dry shells they leave behind. She used to collect them.
 
huh, surprised i've never seen one until now. I wonder if they are the one making all of the racket on the heat of a summer day. Kind of a Buzz/clacking sound...the first of the sound bits on wiki resembled what I am trying to describe.
 
We used to tie thread around their back legs and the would fly around and around like a guided line airplane.
 
Growing up (in upper MI) I didn't see cicadas much, just heard them in the trees. But out here in DC we had the 17-year "brood X" cicadas come out a few years ago, which was something else. They were everywhere, and loud. Fascinating and gross all at once. I've seen a handful of discarded exoskeletons around this year, must be a minor brood.
 
We call them locust around these parts, although its not really a proper name. Pick it up and you will feel a definite vibration (or buzz). Really weird.
 
That's funny, my wife brought one in that she found outside and asked me the very same question just a couple days ago. I recognized it as a cicada right away.
 
karri0n said:
That's funny, my wife brought one in that she found outside and asked me the very same question just a couple days ago. I recognized it as a cicada right away.

HaHa! Did you know what it was because of the thread or had you already acquired that knowledge?!?
 
When I used to live in Chicago, we would get infested with these every few years--a dozen on every sidewalk square.

On the radio they'd play a folk song about cooking and eating them--apparently they are good dredged in flour and pan fried.

My advice, get them while they are fresh.
 
From the Wikipedia info. looks like they are edible. Cheap protein source. They recommend the females as a tastier treat.

Amazing what one can learn hanging out here. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.