A top-down view of a cicada pinned to a black background.

Kihikihi cicadas and their sounds

Aotearoa New Zealand has 34 species of cicadas. Five of these species are then further divided into several subspecies, to give 42 unique species and subspecies of New Zealand cicada.

Aotearoa New Zealand has such a large number of cicadas for its size partly due to the mountain ranges acting as natural barriers between populations which has led to the divergence of lots of different species.

Lifecycle of a cicada

New Zealand has 34 species of cicadas. Five of these species are then further divided into several subspecies, to give 42 unique species and subspecies of New Zealand cicada.

Can insects talk?

How does a cicada attract a mate? How do they hear? Why do they vibrate their wings and drum on the ground? Insects use many different ways to communicate. Like us humans, many insects use sound waves to communicate, but some insects use other techniques too.

Cicadas of Aotearoa New Zealand and their sounds

Once the cicadas have become adults, the males soon start their chorus to attract females. Listen to the different types of cicada songs.

Sir Charles Fleming’s cicadas to soon sing again

These audio tapes were recorded by Sir Charles Fleming in his pioneering study of our country’s cicadas in the 1960s and 70s. Finlay Dempster, one of our natural history interns, explains the significance of these audio tapes and the man who made them.

Cicadas in our collection

Browse our cicadas on Collections Online

Read about Sir Charles Fleming and his collections

Charles Alexander Fleming KBE FRS FRSNZ (1916–1987) was a geologist, biologist, and environmentalist, who investigated New Zealand’s unique wildlife throughout his career. His collection includes over 2000 different specimens and many of them can be seen on Collections Online.