Bug FAQScissor Grinder
Neotibicen pruinosus · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Cicadidae
Also called: Scissor Grinder Cicada, Silver-bellied Cicada
The scissor grinder is a green cicada with many markings and a completely black abdomen. It lives in wooded and grassland areas across most of the eastern United States and feeds by sucking tree sap with its straw-like mouthpart. It looks similar to other species in its genus.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The insect is mainly green with complex body markings and a fully black abdomen.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is common in wooded places, often within grassland environments.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It uses a proboscis to pierce trees and drink xylem fluid.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes most of the eastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It resembles many other species in the same genus.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 27 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Cicadidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotibicen_pruinosus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.