Living in Ireland, my exposure to cicadas was limited to books and films. The grim, cold, rainy Irish climate just isn't attractive enough for them (they prefer an average temperature of 29c). But as soon as I visited a hot country, the noise was obvious. They congregate in trees and make enough noise to be audible even through the closed windows of a car while driving past at 100kph.
Wikipedia says that 'they have loud noisemakers called "timbals" on the sides of the abdominal base. Their "singing" is not the stridulation (where two structures are rubbed against one another) of many other familiar sound-producing insects like crickets: the timbals are regions of the exoskeleton that are modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened "ribs". Contracting the internal timbal muscles produces a clicking sound as the timbals buckle inwards. As these muscles relax, the timbals return to their original position producing another click.'
Those timbals are certainly effective, I can tell you that much. Apparently they can reach up to 120 dB, which is definitely on the loud side! On my way to work in the mornings, I cycle through a park with several big old trees, and on a hot morning the cicadas are audible as soon as I reach the park gate.
Oh, and here's a picture of a New Zealand Cicada, courtesy of Landcare Research:
Consider yourselves educated, readers in non-cicada-having countries!
*my brother :P
2 comments:
Cicadas are so cool :) Sometimes our cat catches one and sits in the corner of the lounge hiding it in her mouth, until it starts to buzz and then she gets a guilty expression of her face as we all look to see where the noise is coming from!
"Somebody" is your brother. I protest. I am at very least a proper noun!
Post a Comment