Quesada gigas
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The giant cicada (Quesada gigas), also known as the chichara grande, coyoyo, or coyuyo, is a species of large cicada native to North, Central, and South America. One of two species in the genus Quesada, it is the widest ranging cicada in the Western Hemisphere.
The giant cicada was discovered by Guillaume-Antoine Olivier in 1790. British naturalist Henry Walter Bates described the shrill songs of the cicadas during his exploration in the Amazon in the late 1840s. There are historical records of the cicada in Bexar County, Texas starting in 1934, but this population died out - possibly due to the extended drought of the 1950s. Since 2005, the cicada population has grown and become widespread in central Texas. It currently ranges from central Texas to as far south as Mina Clavero, Argentina.
The giant cicada is one of the largest cicada species in North America. Like other Texan species, the giant cicada has an appearance that helps it camouflage into the environment. These true bugs are usually a combination of black, green and brown patterns, with brown to olive eyes and a brownish-green pronotal collar color. Texan cicadas distinguish themselves by sound... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tegucigalpa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 3 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Giant Cicada sighting in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 97th most-seen of the 279 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Giant Cicada in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January to September, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Giant Cicada sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
2nd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Giant Cicada sightings, Iguaçu National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 30%).
Same family: Cicadidae
The closest relatives of the Giant Cicada that you can see in Iguaçu National Park (family Cicadidae, Typical Cicadas) are Carineta diardi (about 10%), Green Shield Cicada (about 10%) and Fidicina torresi (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Giant Cicada is recorded against all the insects logged in Iguaçu National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
