tātarakihi
1. (noun) cicada of various species - there are about 40 species of cicada in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Some live in the forest, some on coastal sand dunes, others in the mountain tops. Cicadas have a blunt head and tapering body, cannot jump but can fly. They are noted for the male's loud summer mating call, the song of each species being distinctive. The wingless cicada nymph (matua kihikihi) lives underground for at least three years, sucking roots. When ready to hatch, it crawls out onto a tree trunk at dawn and the winged adult breaks out of its old nymph skin (ngengeti) and flies away.
E kī ana te kōrero, ‘Te tātarakihi, te pihareinga; ko ngā manu ēnā o Rehua.' Ka tangi ana ēnei ngāngara kua tīmata te raumati (Te Ara 2011). / The saying says, ‘The cicada and the cricket are the flying creatures of Rehua.' These creatures sing when summer has begun.
See also kihikihi, kihikihi-wawā, tarakihi
