Morningside Park Cicada

As I reached Morningside Park Saturday afternoon there were two guys having an intense discussion as they stared at the sidewalk.  I caught "Grasshopper?  Shee-it!  That ain't no grasshopper."  Then they asked if I knew what the creature was they were looking at.  They were impressed that I knew it was a cicada, but even more impressed when I picked it up.  I proceeded to tell them all about cicadas.  Or, at least everything I know, which isn't much.  They left and a couple more people stopped and I repeated my spiel (the larval stage lives underground for many years, crawls up a tree, molts, chirps really loudly to find a mate, lays eggs in the soil and dies).  I don't think they believed the part about living underground for years.  Probably good I didn't mention that cicadas are edible!

Comments

[isabel]

that is one snazzy cicada. the ones we have where i live (new mexico) are brownish, not posh irridescent green!

this one looks as if she/he could speak.

[isabel]

oh my goodness, she/he has lost one of it's feet! ( in the middle picture)

[jeff]

nice cicada!

I suppose you will now be known as the cicada man of morningside!

j.

[j]

very cool

[Emily]

Wow - Isabel is very observant! She's beautiful! I showed it to my husband, who'd never seen one before and didn't know what it was. We had a katydid on the inside of our screen door last year, another beautiful green bug! I put her gently in a cup and then onto a bush outside.

[tien]

you should make a cicada pie!!

ew. nevermind.

[joe]

I once had a cricket empanada at a Oaxacan restaurant in LA. It tasted fine but I could have done without feeling the little legs in my mouth.

Even with one foot missing it had a powerful grip.

[Chloe]

My mom and I think we might have one of those cicadas is in the Chicago land area.