Tanna japonensis

Tanna japonensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha
Family: Cicadidae
Genus: Tanna
Species:
T. japonensis
Binomial name
Tanna japonensis
Distant, 1892
Subspecies

T. j. ishigakiana Distant, 1892
T. j. japonensis Kato, 1960

Synonyms

Pomponia japonensis Distant, 1892

Tanna japonensis, also called the evening cicada or higurashi (Japanese: 日暮, 蜩, 茅蜩, ひぐらし, ヒグラシ), is a species of cicada, a family of insects, and a member of the genus Tanna. It is distributed throughout East Asia, and is most common in Japan. Its shrill call can be heard most often in the morning and evening.

One of its possible kanji names (茅蜩) is derived from the character (茅) for a category of grasses that includes Miscanthus sinensis, a type of reed that it inhabits. In Japan, it is also known as kanakana (カナカナ) because of the noise that it makes.