Razor grinder
The razor grinder is a big brown cicada from eastern Australia. Its name comes from its loud, harsh song, which sounds like a metal grinding machine. The males sing together in big groups at dusk.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its front wing alone is about 5 centimetres long.
Its song gets louder and louder, stops suddenly and then starts again.
If a predator grabs it, it makes a special scared noise to try to escape.
In some years there are huge numbers of them, and in other years only a few.
It is shy and a fast flyer, so it is hard to get close to one.
Most asked questions about Razor grinder
?Why is it called the razor grinder?
Because its harsh song sounds like a metal grinder.
?When can I hear the razor grinder?
Mostly in December and January, when the males sing in groups at dusk.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Henicopsaltria eydouxii
- Named by
- Guérin-Méneville, 1838
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Cicadidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Cicadidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Laughing razor grinder
Where the facts come from
- Henicopsaltria eydouxii (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Toby Hudson. CC BY-SA 3.0 au, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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