Cicada

While working on the fence yesterday we found this "bug" crawling in the dirt. Our neighbor, Greg, said he though it was a Cicada. I have never seen one but I knew about the noise they make. We slipped a piece of paper under it so I could get a better picture of it. It has a hard body like a beetle. Not very attractive. (Be sure to click on pictures to enlarge)

Later in the day we were shocked to find this iridescent fragile looking thing had emerged from the ugly shell in the first picture. I was completely enchanted by the colors of this new creature so I just kept snapping photos.

The dark green dot on his wing is a drop of liquid. When they "molt" they are covered with this brilliant green fluid and then they hang on a branch to dry. I assume they cannot fly until their wings are properly dried out.

Maybe we will hear his music in the trees sometime soon.