A bug...

That is a - are you ready for the uber creative name??? - A Black Beetle.

http://www.hortnet.co.nz/publications/hortfacts/hf401006.htm

Both the adult and larval stages of the African Black Beetle can cause damage to roots of a wide variety of plants.The favoured plant of the black beetle is grass. The adult black beetle is 14mm long and eats the roots of grass and other plants in summer to mid autumn. All stages of this beetle live predominantly underground, so inspection is advised before spraying with insecticide.

http://www.yates.com.au/images/au/problem-solver/black-beetle/black-beetle-1.jpg

 

Yeah, those are pretty common around here, Laura. Good pic, though.

Now these things you hear in the trees all summer long, but I don't think I have seen a shed exto-skeleton before. This cicaida was a bit bigger than an inch, maybe 1 1/4.
And notice the extremely large, sinister, scary, creepy, sneaky, vile, evil spider lurking in the corner. (I hate spiders)

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/musksnipe/August2008_46.jpg

 

They do. They blend into the tree bark really well, too.
When I think summer, it usually includes their noise.
I think they are less irritating then crickets.

 

We don't have just Crickets here... I don't know what's out there, but holy noise batman. One of the critters makes a sound just like a CPU crashing. It's bizarre.

 

Is that also known as a june bug?

 

No those are smaller and have a color.
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/pics/content_img.1726.img.jpg