Desert Cicada vs Armored Ground Cricket

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Desert Cicada Armored Ground Cricket
Scientific Name Diceroprocta semicincta Acanthoplus discoidalis
Order Hemiptera Orthoptera
Family Cicadidae Tettigoniidae
Size 28-35 mm 40-50mm
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Deserts & Drylands
Diet Sap Feeders Carrion Feeders
Regions North America Africa
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Desert Cicada

A heat-loving cicada found throughout the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. Its shrill call is one of the most characteristic sounds of the desert summer.

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Did You Know?

It sweats through tiny pores to cool itself, one of the few insects known to use evaporative cooling.

Armored Ground Cricket

A large heavily armored katydid with sharp spines on its thorax and legs. It is flightless and moves in large migratory bands. When threatened, it can squirt hemolymph from its joints.

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Did You Know?

Individuals in marching bands become cannibalistic, and those that stop moving are eaten by those behind them.