Resh Cicada

Resh Cicada, Neotibicen resh

One of the loudest cicadas, the Resh Cicada, gets its common name for the mesonotum marking that looks like the upside-down Hebrew letter Resh. Formerly Cicada resh and Tibicen resh, it was first described by S. S. Haldeman in the appendix of the report Exploration and Survey of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, Washington and is now known as Neotibicen resh. Within S.S. Haldeman's collection were seventy-six specimens identified as the species. Resh Cicada have a range that includes Alabama to the western extremes of Texas. The voiceless females will lay their eggs in twigs. After hatching, the juveniles burrow into the soil until they emerge more than a year later. The adults feed on oak sap while the juveniles consume the tree roots underground. Resh cicadas are partial to various oak species, especially live oaks.