Cicada Sounds

Cicadas make sounds differently than other insects. Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Locusts all make sounds by rubbing two body parts together such as rubbing a wing against a wing or a leg against a wing. Cicadas, however, employ a very unique method for making sounds. In his book Observing Insect Lives (1983 p. 133-4), Donald Stokes writes: "In the last segment of the thorax, there are two hollow cavities covered on one side with membranes that act like drum heads. Attached to these membranes are muscles that cause the membranes to vibrate." Only the male of the species can make this high pitched sound.

There are over 75 species of Cicadas in North America, and each species has it's own but slightly different sound that can be recognized by female Cicadas. The sound that the males make initially attracts other males to a particular tree. The collective sound of all the males attracts the attention of female Cicadas. The females fly to the tree and select a mate (Stokes 1983 p. 134).

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