What bugs is this?
Found these in a garden in the North Quabbin Area of Franklin County, MA. These things are everywhere and we cannot seem to figure out what they are or how to get rid of them.
Thanks!
Phillip

Hi Phillip,
This is a skin from a Cicada. Cicada nymphs live underground and feed off of the sap from tree roots. They then dig to the surface, split their skins for the final time and emerge as winged adults. They are probably buzzing in your trees now. Sorry we have no erradication advice.

Three Bugs from near Sedona, AZ
The second photo is of what looks like a cicada, but at one inch long, much smaller than the annual (green) cicada that we had back in southwest MO where I grew up; it was also smaller than the periodical red-eyed cicada that we had there. (Boy, the bass went nuts for those!) The annual cicadas that I am familiar with get really loud with their "singing," while these little guys made clicking sounds. I thought there was an electronic bug zapper somewhere, but it was the clicking of a bazillion of these things. They were thick as thieves in the Oak Creek Canyon area just northeast of Sedona in June 2003.If you can identify any of these, I’d be grateful.
Su — Mesa, AZ

Hi Su,
Your Cicada could be one of several species. Often Western Cicadas are much smaller than the Eastern Cicadas you are used to seeing. The Small Grass Cicada, Okanagana minuta is just over 1/2 an inch in length. “The color varies,” according to Essig, “from straw or tan to black or a combination of these colors, and with orange or pink blotches at the bases of the wings.” Your photo seems to illustrate such blotches. Vanduzee’s Cicada, Okanagana vanduzeri, is a common species that reaches 3/4 inch in length. It is also shiny black with irregular orange markings.

Hey, I see you posted my bugs! I thought you might be interested in another bugman’s take on this cicada. See his response below.
Regards, Su Su Rogers-Fink
Su,
The cicada pictured is Platypedia putnami and this is a wing snapper. Usually they’ll sit in a bush in numbers and do as you described by manipulating their wings which snap (sometimes called crepitating). Oh we have lots of fancy terms for sound production. Beyond that I don’t know much of their life history. I imagine they stay underground from 1-2 years, then emerge just as others do. We have about 35-40 species of cicadas in AZ, none quite like the 17 year. But they are quite fun. Anyway it is little wonder nobody knew about this cicada because its presence just isn’t spectacular so it takes a good naturalist to find them. Enjoy. Well I just did a google search and have copied and attached an article about this cicada. Funny I found another website that had all incorrect info so if you search this is the correct story. And funny thing, it looks like I copied it to tell you in my words above. Carl
Platypedia putnami http://www.nku.edu/~hastings/New%20Mexico%20Web/pputnami.htm
P. putnami , is an annual cicada that emerges from May to June. Their habitat tends to be mixed coniferous forests, and seem to prefer elevations from 1200 to 3000 meters. The genes of Playpedia use a different mode of signaling compared to their cousins, such as in the genes of Magicicada. This genes as well as most others use an organ called the timbal to produce courtship songs. In Platypedia, this organ is vestigial. Hence it is believed that the acoustic signal produced by Platypedia comes from the slapping of its wings either against its perch or its abdomen and possibly a combination of both. Dr. Allen Sanborn published a scientific paper in the Entomological Society of America about the acoustic signal of Platypedia putnami . He describes their signal as a sound produced from slapping the wings against a perch or other vegetation, or otherwise known as crepitations. There is not much known about this species of cicada and ongoing research is being done to explore their ecology and behavior. This site is dedicated to the research that has been done and will be done on this species.

Thank you, Carl! Crepetation is the sound my knees make. Maybe the cicadas were responding to my knees. Really appreciate your time. Regards, Su Carl Olson

Bug against the house
Found this guy next to the back door. It’s around 2 inches long, I believe. Didn’t want to get too close. What kind of bug is it? I’m located in Garland, TX. I’m within the Dallas metro area.
Thanks much!
Olga

Hi Olga,
You have sent in a discarded skin from a Cicada. These large fly-like insects spend their nymph stage underground sucking nourishment from the roots of trees. Then they emerge from the underground, shed their skins and fly away. They make a loud buzzing noise in the hot days of summer. Some species, known as Periodical Cicadas or 17 Year Locusts, spend 17 years underground and emerge in great numbers, creating a deafing chorus. This year was the notorious Brood X year and large numbers of Cicadas were found in many eastern cities. Your specimen is probably one of the Annual Cicadas.

Daniel,
Thank you so very much for your response. I appreciate it very much. It was very kind of you.
Olga

Dear Bugman,
Hi. I’m getting married May 1, 2004 in lovely N. Virginia and am planning an outside reception. Someone mentioned recently that the secadas are due to come out this year and they start right around that time. Please advise if you think this is the case or if there are certain treatments you can have done or certain candles or lights you can have to turn them away. Please help me BTW – what exactly is a secada?
Many thanks.
MK

Dear MK,
According to our sources, Brood X of the 17 Year Cicada or Periodical Cicada, Magicicada septendecim, is due to emerge this year. They are noisy, but will not attack your wedding guests. Nothing will keep them away. Here is information I am reprinting from the National Geographic website:
“Get ready, Brood X is coming. This May billions of black, shrimp-size bugs with transparent wings and beady red eyes will carpet trees in the U.S. from the eastern seaboard west through Indiana and south to Tennessee. By the end of June they’ll be gone, not to be heard from or seen again for 17 years. "Many people view them with horror or as an aberration and don’t appreciate that they are a natural part of our eastern forests," said John Cooley, a cicada expert at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. The bugs belong to the largest group, or brood, of periodical cicadas-insects that spend most of their lives as nymphs, burrowed underground and sucking sap from tree roots. They emerge once every 17 years, transform into adults, do the business of reproduction, and then die.”

Thanks. The Washington Post and NYT have both printed recent articles.
Thanks again.

I added a few other pictures. Not sure what they all are but hopefully you can use them somewhere! Let me know if you can view these pictures and if you like them. I have a some more pics of other bugs. I didn’t want to over load you with a bunch of pictures you didn’t want. You have my permission to use them as you please if any of them are worth posting! Take care
Bruce Rose
Huntingtown, MD

Thanks, Bruce,
for the wonderful photo of the periodical cicada, or 17-Year Locust.