Oh the Sounds of Summer – Cicadas

by Lisa Milewski

Growing up, my siblings and I would hear the infamous sounds of summer. Yes, the Cicadas. We would always hear them but never see them.  We would see their shells once they emerged, usually on trees but not a live one. 

To my delight, my son was playing basketball in the front yard and rushed in to tell me I might want to see this big bug. My eye for birds, insects, lizards, etc. has rubbed off on my children annd husband; I love it! They know how excited I get. Low and behold, it was a cicada. I slowly move in for a close-up picture to not scare it away. Yay, I got it! 

I posted it in iNaturalist and identified it as a Resh Cicada.  Per iNaturalist, the Megatibicen resh, the resh cicada or western dusk singing cicada, is a species of cicada in the family Cicadidae, found in North America.

An internet article on Cicada Mania stated it’s known as the Resh Cicada because of the markings on its back resemble the Hebrew symbol Resh “x” (Hebrew letter that looks like an upside down “L”). The Resh Cicada has been documented to be found in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. During the molting process, up until the cicada’s body sclerotizes (hardens), the cicada’s body is leaf-green (camouflaged like a hanging leaf).