Does anyone know what this bug is? I think it just showed up this year, or maybe I've just noticed it. I see it sometimes in the soil, on its back or side, slowly waving its arms (for lack of knowing what the appendages are called) around. This one was sitting on a leaf of one of my brunneras. Its not aggressive . . . in fact, it seems very slow. In the spring, I saw one as I was digging slowly waving its arms as other bugs sort of swarmed around it. Very weird!
The image is not clear enough for me to be certain, but this could b a nymph of a cicada that has emerged from the soil to shed its exoskeleton ('skin') and complete its life cycle. See http://tinyurl.com/27feomu for an image of a shed exoskeleton.
Definitely a young cicada, as suunto suggested. Though which species is another question... We find their exoskeletons attached to pine trees here. As kids we used to sneakily put the empty 'shells' on someone's shoulder and tell them they had a giant bug on them :P That was a load of fun!
Thank you, both!
