Bug outside my house???

Question

ok ive been always wondering what it could be but every summer theres like this bug or insect that comes out at night time and it makes like this werid creepy ticking noise like someone is very lightly taping a pen against the table or something so yeah it comes out every summer at night time makes a ticking noise like every few minutes and it lives in the trees all across the neibhorhood oh and i live in southern california if that helps anyone got any ideas??

Answer 1

Most likely a cicada or a group of them...

does it sound like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy5O4lnbF...

Answer 2

That's not a Cicada it's a katydid!

Katydids are those green grasshoppers with long thin atennae

and many species can look like leaves.

They make that ticking almost water sprinker sound. Tch, tch, tch,

and that's how they get their name.

They are also called Bush Crickets.