cicada

Noun

cicada (plural cicadas or cicadae or (archaic) cicadæ)

1. Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings.
   • Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 172
   1. The periodical cicada.
      • The emergence years of the principal cicada broods have now been recorded for a long time, and the oldest record of a swarm is that of the appearance of the “locusts” in New England two hundred and ninety-five years ago.2011, Robert Evans Snodgrass, Insects: Their Ways and Means of Living, page 217
      • Last year, the Brood I cicadas were found in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee. The cicadas that will emerge in New Jersey this year are part of Brood II or The East Coast Brood. They will also be found in Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.2013 May 16, Laura Kroon, “Magicidada coming to New Jersey on May 27”, in Hunterdon County Democrat