My wife recently came across this scary looking creature in our garden. It’s a bit over one inch long and is actually just an empty shell, the top of which has split and something has emerged (think Alien). After some advice seeking and research I’ve concluded that it’s the nymph form of a cicada.

According to Wikipedia:

In some species of cicada, the males remain in one location and call to attract females. Sometimes several males aggregate and call in chorus. In other species, the males move from place to place, usually with quieter calls while searching for females. The Tettigarctidae differ from other cicadas in producing vibrations in the substrate rather than audible sounds. After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig where she deposits her eggs.

When the eggs hatch, the newly hatched nymphs drop to the ground and burrow. Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives at depths down to about 2.5 metres (8 ft). Nymphs have strong front legs for digging and excavating chambers in close proximity to roots where they feed on xylem sap. In the process, their bodies and interior of the burrow become coated in anal fluids. In wet habitats, larger species construct mud towers above ground in order to aerate their burrows. In the final nymphal instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then moult (shed their skins) on a nearby plant for the last time, and emerge as adults. The exuviae or abandoned exoskeletons remain, still clinging to the bark of the tree.

Cicada exuvia. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct “broods” that go through either a 17-year or, in some parts of the world, a 13-year life cycle. The long life cycles may have developed as a response to predators, such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis. A specialist predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas.

We’ve also seen the adult in our garden (see: Large bug: Cicada?)

Taken with a Sony RX100 M3.

We have some frogs at our house in Briarcliff Manor. Our friends are staying there at present and have (or at least one of them has) developed a strange attraction to them. Yesterday he sent me a message with an attached picture saying that a “large” bird had turned up and that the frogs had disappeared. He suspected that it had been eating them. It didn’t want to leave, but did eventually after he threw stones at it.

The picture was a bit blurred and the bird was somewhat distant and consequently small in the frame. However, it looked to me as if it was a Green Heron. I’d taken a picture (see above) of this bird at Teatown Preservation so I sent it to him and he confirmed that it was the bird in question.

I don’t know about it being “large” though. Green Heron’s are only about 17 inches tall. Bigger than, for example, a sparrow I suppose, but much much smaller than the Great Grey Heron’s we have at the lake (but which I unfortunately have been unable to get a picture of so far). They’re magnificent birds, over three feet tall. I once saw one chase off a number of much smaller Egrets from its piece of the lake.

Oh, and yes Green Herons do eat frogs!

I was walking the dog around Lake Shore Road, when I noticed some movement around my feet. Looking down I saw this fluffy looking creature. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but I suspect it’s the caterpillar stage of Cycnia tenera or the dogbane tiger moth.

The markings on the head gave the impression of a sad little face (I’m pretty sure it’s not. I don’t think caterpillars have such large eyes. I imagine that they’re probably markings to deter predators).

Whatever it is I had no intention of touching it as I’ve read that some of these fuzzy/hairy caterpillars are quite toxic.

Apparently bats won’t eat the adult moths, as the moths emit clicking noises, which upset the bat’s sonar. Fascinating stuff.