During the Brood II emergence in 2013, Elias Bonaros, Roy Troutman and I spent some time experimenting with coercing male Magicicada to call in response to finger snaps, which mimic the snap of a female cicada’s wings. This trick works fairly well with Magicicada, and can quickly be mastered once you work out the timing. Fingers, wall switches, and the zoom button on my Sony video camera do a good job at mimicking the snap of a females wings.
Magicicada cassini responding to fingersnaps
Magicicada cassini responding to fingersnaps from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
I also recorded their calls in terms of decibels to see just how loud they could get. They can get very loud, but not as loud as a rock concert (see this db chart).
Magicicada cassini calling at 109db in Colonia NJ
Magicicada cassini calling at 109db in Colonia NJ from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
Magicicada cassini chorusing center peaking at 85db
Magicicada cassini chorusing center peaking at 85db from Cicada Mania on Vimeo.
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