Definition of "tettix"

[T]he Tettix or Cicada in the day time is extremely troubleſome. It is a brown inſect reſembling a chafer, with wings much longer than its body, and thin like thoſe of a fly. […] Dionyſius of Syracuſe ſignified his reſolution to burn and lay waſte the territory of a people, with whom he had a quarrel, when he ſaid, that, if they refuſed to comply with his demands, their Tettixes ſhould ſing on the ground.

1776, Richard Chandler, “chapter LXXXII”, in Travels in Asia Minor: Or An Account of a Tour Made at the Expense of the Society of Dilettanti, 2nd edition, London: Sold by J[ames] Dodsley, J[ames] Robson, T[homas] Cadell, P[eter] Elmsley, and G. Robinson; Oxford: D. Prince, pages 276–277

[T]hat Greek waste silent but for the risp of the tettix and the wash of listless wind through the spare grass.

1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!: Six Stories, New York, N.Y.: Scribner

The woman who had lived on no food at all, however, recalls once more the insect into which Tithonos was transformed: the tettix, which was believed to exist without food or drink, or only on dew, or on dew and air.

1989, Helen King, “Tithonos and the Tettix”, in Thomas M. Falkner, Judith de Luce, editors, Old Age in Greek and Latin Literature (SUNY Series in Classical Studies), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, page 75