Tettix or Tzitzi

This is a picture of a cicada we caught the other night when we were out for a walk - please pay no attention to my dirty fingers. Man did he make a lot of racket trying to get out of the brush he was hiding in. I think I startled him as much as he startled me.

These critters are not the quickest nor the most graceful of bugs and as a result he wasn't able to get out of the brush he was in and get away. Rather he got stuck and fell to the ground, where I grabbed him. We took a few pictures and checked him out - not the most attractive bug either, then let him go. It took a few seconds for him to get his wings and get going and once he did off he went buzzing away.

The word Cicada derives directly from the Latin "Cicada", in Greek they are called "Tettix" or "Tzitzi".

Cicadas are notorious singers. The song is a mating call produced by the males only. Male cicadas (and only males) have loud noisemakers called "tymbals". Each species has its own distinctive call and only attracts females of its own kind even though rather similar species may co-exist.

Cicadas are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs, here are a just a few example links:

Scarlet & Blue Leafhopper
Potato Leafhopper
Two-lined Spittlebug
Spittlebug froth mass