I have no idea, but ooww

A cicada?

Flowers, I was thinking a cicada, too. Are they harmful to roses? What a character with those beady eyes! Your photo is great, so clear and detailed. Diane

I thought cicadas were only in the south. Apparently they are common in the Pacific North West. Only thing is, this is the Inland North West, so I guess the little guy is lost. He's dead, now, actually. I decided to eliminate any potential problems.

Diane, I found that they will not kill shrubs unless the shrubs are 'pathetic weaklings'.

The neat, precise, stitch-like marks are where she was laying eggs. Think I'll cut that cane off below the eggs to be safe.

Thank you all for recognizing my scary bug and clueing me in.

Yes I meant to say that that was one great picture of that guy whoever he may be.

They are not at all common in the PNW. I have lived here my entire life, garden professionally as a consulting horticulturist and landscape designer and I have never seen a single one!! All manner of other bugs and invertebrates but NO cicadas.

That is not to say your guy is not a cicada - sure looks like one - only that these bugs are not all that common here like they are in the midwest.

In France they are considered to be good luck. If you haven't already cut the branch, you might want to leave it. ;)

Gardengal, that's what I thought, but I googled it and came up with several links claiming that they are 'common' in the PNW! Also, one or two that said they're not. In any case, it sure looks like a cicada.

Midwesterners, is it true they live underground and only surface every 17 years? Does it take that long for their eggs to hatch, or what?

K S, if I leave that branch on, and the eggs hatch, will I have an infestation of those things swarming around? I'm sure their mothers think they're pretty, but I don't.

What a fabulous picture!!! Yeah, I don't think it's a good thing to have around.

I grew up in Ohio, and we did indeed have a variety referred to as the 17-year locusts. They were terrifying to me as a child, and I’m not sure I’d want a visit back home to coincide with theirs even now :-) Those came in huge groups, and their exoskeletons could be found littering the bases of trees. I believe the larva burrow into the soil, emerging 17 years later.

There are the usual cicadas, also, and their sounds in the summer are some of the most soothing things ever. You just don’t want one to land on you.

I've heard the loud summer buzzing of cicadas in this area for years.

The orchard cicada is the common cicada of the PNW Region.

http://entomology.wsu.edu/outreach/bug-info/cicada/

If we had to get a midwestern flying insect, why couldn't it have been fireflies! That was one of the most fun things about visiting relatives in the midwest as a child.

J. Sturg, that is one strange bug - 17 years underground.

Embothrium, it looks as though they're only in certain parts of the PNW. Please, keep them over there!

Ha! You might not think it is pretty, but I doubt if they will bother you much. You might just hear them buzzing during the heat of summer -- I suppose that could be annoying, if you don't enjoy the sound. Different kinds of cicadas live underground for differing numbers of years. I've got no idea how long this type spends underground. If they were likely to cause an infestation, you would probably already have seen tons of them. So far as I know, they are harmless.

K S - oh, you're probably right. :)

CArol