Hieroglyphic cicada

Neocicada hieroglyphica

Eats: Plants True bugs and cicadasForests and woods6 legs

The hieroglyphic cicada is a cicada from North America. It has black markings on its head and chest that look a bit like ancient picture writing, called hieroglyphs. Like other cicadas, the males sing loudly in summer.

Lives in

Eastern North America, from New York to Kansas and south

Top speed

about 12 km/h (7.5 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.

What does it eat?

Like other cicadas, it drinks sap from plants.

Photo of Hieroglyphic cicada — Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

Hieroglyphic cicada about 12 km/h (7.5 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Its name comes from the black marks on its head and chest.

There are two forms of it, called subspecies.

It lives from Long Island in New York west to Kansas and further south.

you asked

Most asked questions about Hieroglyphic cicada

?Why is it called the hieroglyphic cicada?

Because of its black markings, which look a bit like ancient Egyptian picture writing.

?Is the hieroglyphic cicada dangerous?

No. It is harmless to people.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Neocicada hieroglyphica
Named by: Say, 1830
Group: True bugs and cicadas
Family: Cicadidae
Classification: Insecta > Hemiptera > Cicadidae
Lives on: North America

Where the facts come from

Neocicada hieroglyphica (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 xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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