Bug FAQNorthern Dog-day Cicada
Neotibicen canicularis · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Cicadidae
Also called: God-day Cicada, Dog-day Harvestfly, Dogday Harvestfly, Lumberjack Scissor-Grinder
The Northern Dog-day Cicada is a medium-sized insect about 27 to 33 mm long with a wingspan up to 82 mm. It is mostly black with green body markings and green-veined wings that are most visible near the wing base. It lives in mixed and deciduous woods across the Great Plains, Midwest, Great Lakes, and New England regions of Canada and the United States, and is most active during the hot, humid days of summer.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The bug is mainly black with green markings on its body. Its wings have green veins, especially near the base.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Body length is typically 27 to 33 mm (about 1.1 to 1.3 in) and the wingspan can reach 82 mm (about 3.2 in).
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The name “dog-day” refers to its activity during the hot, humid days of summer.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes the Great Plains, the Midwest, the Great Lakes region, and New England in both Canada and the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 31 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Illinois.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Cicadidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-day_cicada
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.