Subject: Cicada?
Location: North Andover, MA
June 30, 2015 12:48 pm
I’ve never actually seen a cicada. I thought they were a southern bug that came out in big numbers every certain number of years. We are in MA and this little guy was on our screen door. Is it a cicada?
Signature: Maggie
Dear Maggie,
This is indeed a Cicada, as is the “southern bug that came out in big numbers in every certain number of years”, but the latter is known as a Periodical Cicada or 17 Year Locust. The second common name is a total misnomer as the Cicada is not a Locust. They are not limited to the South. Your Cicada is generally called an Annual Cicada, and it is in the genus Tibicen.