Bugs and critters

I'm not that big on bugs in general, but I have a soft spot for cicadas. They are colourful, docile, noisy, and their song is an essential part of the niceness that is summer.

One of the effects of our summer being not so awesome is that our backyard has been a bit quieter as the cicadas haven't emerged until late in the season. Even when the hills all around have been ringing with cicada song, our place has been relatively quiet for some reason. It is only in the last week or two that we have had them in normal numbers.

For those who have only seen our backyard in winter, this is what it sounded like this time last year when they were in full song. For places with a slightly bushier surround than ours it can get surprisingly loud:




And as Fi pointed out, it would have to be a noisy creature with markings like these on it's wings:
Charlotte likes cicadas too. Here she is with a little friend a year ago.
This summer she has moved on to collecting the nymph husks and adopting a live cicada for the day (named Cyril).
She also branched out into other insect fauna and became the proud owner of a Giant Dragonfly (deceased), naming it Shodeol. No, we have no idea what that means or where it comes from either.
Cicadas and dragonflies are thus Charlotte approved, but she wasn't too keen on the Stick Insects though...
That's my hand, span between thungb and finger is about 6 in/14-15cm.
Or the big Puriri Moth that got into the house one night (pic about life size).
Probably just as well she didn't meet this bad boy then (Gum Emperor Moth).