stacey19

I was outside putting some washing on the line and could here what sounded like a bird in the tree, next thing this weird looking black fly type thing flew onto the clothes and just sat there . I freaked out and it flew off BUT it really did sound like it was making bird type noises...LOL!!! What the hell was it??
I hate flying things especially when I have no idea what the frig they are.
And another question if I may, should I be looking out for the dreaded Weta Bug here in Sumner or is mainly found on the north island *crosses fingers*...I am such a pathetic drama queen when it comes to Insects, please don't tell me any horror stories about spiders....

Beachcombers

It's a cicada, I reckon. Like a cricket, but on steriods.

I love weta's, but Melissa once found one in our food box, when we were moving to our new house...........Took me a while to convince her it was not a foot long cockroach and that she could come back into the house.

Apple12

Hi Stacey, don't panic, you have just met a cicada.
They are fab insects, when they sing you know that summer is here.
They don't bite or sting, in fact they are a real challenge to track down and catch, as if they hear you coming they stop singing.
More info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada.

Be glad you haven't moved to Oz

Jude J

Oh bless ya!
They are a bit of a shock hey?
On my walk to work, there is a bit of footpath surrounded by hedges and bushes, the noise in there is unreal. I often want to ring someone back in England to listen to what i have to put up with!
Do you like the more melodious singing of the crickets at night?

sky

It only takes one cicada to make a right racket too, I think they sound fab ... really tropical

danny.f

I've got one stuck behind my wing mirror,so I can hear it in a tunnel!!

pixi-dust

I love them - really feels like summer - they make a right racket here - we must have about a gazillion of them up in our poplars. I was on the web cam to my brother this morning and he said whats that noise! He could even hear them in Glasgow!

Look out for the skins too.

cherry

This is a WETA ,I took the pic at work on my phone sorry for the poor shot.It is totally harmless and its the first I have seen in 5 months .

sky

Awww don't you just want to hug it

helinuk

[QUOTE=cherry;4402671]This is a WETA ,I took the pic at work on my phone sorry for the poor shot.It is totally harmless and its the first I have seen in 5 months .



I've never heard of them before. It looks similar to a cockroach doesn't it?

mazi

isn't this a cicada? I thought wetas were more black. yes? No?

stacey19

whoooooa. For the Love of God, WTF!!!!
If that landed on my washing line I would be on the next plane home.

Maz

Uh... NO.

Cicadas in the US hang out in trees and all 'chirp', or however you'd describe it, loudly on hot summer evenings. To me it means a warm, long evening. Usually out on the patio with a bottle or two of wine.

Wilma & co

OHH pixi-dust, those cicada skins!!! YUCK!!!! ARRRRRRRRRGH!!!
We'd stopped for a picnic lunch in some nice place on our way home and they freaked me out totally (and I'm not usually too much of a woose!). They were all hanging off the picnic benches and the shed skins were everywhere. I ate my lunch standing up and walking around trying not to scare the kids!!

We had to get an insect book out of the library to find out what they were 'coz I couldn't believe they were harmless things, looking like that!

Wilma & co

Forgot to say they were cicada nymphs! Apparently they live underground and feed off tree roots then come out and 'hatch' into cicadas. In case you haven't met one, they look like sort of lobsters with big front claws and are about 3 or 4 cms long - scary, horrible, yucky, nasty things - but sort of amazing too!