Redeye Cicada (2/5)

Hemiptera: Cicadidae

Psaltoda moerens  

The sky was blue. There wasn't a cloud in sight. So the very light rain I could feel falling on my bare arms and head and wetting my camera came as a bit of a surprise.

I was facing a small acacia tree in which several Redeye Cicadas where clinging to the trunk. Behind me, and reaching many meters above both me and the acacia, was a small copse of eucalyptus trees obviously hosting a much larger party of Redeye Cicadas -and now the little party-eyed so-and-sos were busily showering me and everything in the shadow of the trees with their waste fluids.

In fact I could see it falling about me, a gentle misty rain, amazing for the sheer abundance of it. Surely there must be thousands of the creatures up there, but looking up from my present vantage point would not be a good idea. I moved.

Safe outside the "rain shadow" I looked up but the majority of the cicadas were hidden by the foliage.

The humour of it occurred to me. Redeye Cicadas were getting bush-pee on me while I was trying to get them on Bushpea.

I continued taking photographs of the cicadas in the acacia whilst trying not to get too wet, courtesy of their more elevated brethren.