Not quite as cute as our little girl...

After a quick trip to Lowe's this evening (well, relatively quick -- good thing they close at 10pm) I noticed a locust/cicada shell on the post of our front porch. Then I realized it was moving just a little. I thought, "Cool," and went inside, thinking it would be cool if it were earlier and the boys were still awake.

I didn't give it much more thought until late in the evening when Lisa called me upstairs to see "a nature thing, so come sooner than later." I looked out the front door and there was the colorful cicada, freshly emerged, slowly circling the top of the post on a path that required him/her to climb over the shed skin each time.
 

Once I remembered to turn on the macro setting on our camera, the shots got much clearer (and more interesting). The whole time I was thinking, "What do cicadas do when they feel cornered and/or surprised? Can they bite/sting? Do they lunge, mandibles first, at nighttime antagonists sporting bright flashes that tear up the night?