Is this a Razor Grinder?
Michelle Thompson took this picture of a cicada on the trunk of her oak tree in Willoughby in Sydney Australia. Here’s a question for the experts: is this a Razor Grinder? We think it is, but we’re not 100% sure.
Click the picture for a much larger version.
Technorati Tags: cicada, Razor Grinder, insects
This is Aleeta curvicosta (”floury baker”), named because of the whitish “floury” pubescent covering after emergence and the fact that it faces down the tree trunk. A goodly emergence of these around Sydney in the past month. The “razor grinder” (Henicopsaltria sp) does occur in northern Sydney around Terrey Hills, Kuringai Chase and further north in the larger timber- smaller numbers of it have emerged, but large numbers down the south coast around Berry.
David.
Comment by David E — January 15, 2007 @ 7:06 pm