Cicadas are the largest insects in their order and are closely related to aphids and scale insects.
Cicadas make up a Super family called the Cicadoidea which also includes leaf and tree hoppers, and are in their own family called the Cicadidae. There are approximately 1500 species in the Cicadidae family, most of which are tropical. Only approximately 75 of these species inhabit North America. Three genus's that exist near the Great Lakes are listed below. There are other genus's near this region which I hope to include sometime in the near future.