Cicada

I'm pretty sure this is a variable cicada (Kikihia muta muta). I usually see a couple each year, but I don’t hear them. According to Olly Hills the name muta means mute in Latin and was ascribed by Joseph Banks who visited here with Capt. Cook in 1770. Banks’s specimen was a silent female, but the males are not.

The book I referred to is Cicadas of New Zealand by Olly Hills. Olly was only 11 years old when the book was published. It is an excellent book, with masses of quality photographs (mostly taken by his mother), and a lot of interesting information, as well as details for identification.

It was rather dark when I took the photo and it was necessary to use the flash.