Cicada Mania

Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.

April 1, 2020

Cicada Songs, Audio, Sounds, NoIsE 🎶

Filed under: Sounds — Dan @ 6:37 pm

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Cicada Sound FAQs:

International Cicada Sounds:

Cicada Song Samples from North America:

Magicicada species, which are the periodical cicadas currently emerging in the United States, are at the top of the list.

North American Periodical Cicadas

M. cassini Court II & III. Recorded in New York, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. cassini Distress. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. cassini Chorus. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. cassini Call. Recorded in USA by Joe Green.

M. cassini Chorus. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. septendecim Distress. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. septendecim Court II. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. septendecim Call. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. septendecim Court III. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. septendecim Court I. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood II (2013) by Dan Mozgai.

M. septendecula Call. Recorded in USA by Joe Green.

M. septendecula Call. Recorded in USA by Joe Green.

Magicicada Chorus. Recorded in New Jersey, Brood X (2004) by Dan Mozgai.

M. tredecassini Call. Recorded in Illinois, Brood XXIII (2015) by Dan Mozgai.

M. tredecula Chorus. Recorded in Ohio, Brood XXII (2014) by Dan Mozgai.

M. tredecula Call. Recorded in Ohio, Brood XXII (2013) by Roy Troutman.

M. tredecula Call. Recorded in Ohio, Brood XXII (2013) by Roy Troutman.

Some of the North American Annual Species

D. olympusa Starting Call. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

D. olympusa Chorus. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

D. olympusa Distress. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

D. viridifascia Call. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

M. resonans Call. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

N. hieroglyphica hieroglyphica Call. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

N. hieroglyphica hieroglyphica Pre Call. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

N. hieroglyphica hieroglyphica Call. Recorded in Florida by Joe Green.

N. tibicen tibicen Call. Recorded in New Jersey by Dan Mozgai.

Pages that feature sound files:

  1. Beameria venosa (Uhler, 1888) aka Aridland Cicada
  2. Beameria wheeleri Davis, 1934
  3. Cacama valvata (Uhler, 1888) aka Common Cactus Dodger
  4. Cicadettana calliope calliope (Walker, 1850) aka Southern Grass Cicada
  5. Cicadettana camerona (Davis, 1920)
  6. Cicadettana kansa (Davis, 1919)
  7. Cicadettana texana (Davis, 1936)
  8. Clidophleps vagans Davis, 1925
  9. Cornuplura nigroalbata (Davis, 1936)
  10. Cornuplura rudis (Walker, 1858)
  11. Diceroprocta alacris & Diceroprocta apache
  12. Diceroprocta apache (Davis, 1921) aka Citrus Cicada
  13. Diceroprocta arizona (Davis, 1916)
  14. Diceroprocta aurantiaca Davis, 1938
  15. Diceroprocta averyi Davis, 1941
  16. Diceroprocta azteca (Kirkaldy, 1909) aka Scrub Cicada
  17. Diceroprocta bequaerti (Davis, 1917)
  18. Diceroprocta biconica (Walker, 1850)
  19. Diceroprocta bicosta (Walker, 1850)
  20. Diceroprocta crucifera (Walker, 1850)
  21. Diceroprocta eugraphica (Davis, 1916)
  22. Diceroprocta knighti (Davis, 1917)
  23. Diceroprocta marevagans Davis, 1928
  24. Diceroprocta olympusa (Walker, 1850) aka Olympic Scrub Cicada
  25. Diceroprocta ornea (Walker, 1850)
  26. Diceroprocta psophis (Walker, 1850)
  27. Diceroprocta ruatana (Distant, 1891)
  28. Diceroprocta semicincta (Davis, 1925)
  29. Diceroprocta swalei swalei (Distant, 1904)
  30. Diceroprocta texana (Davis, 1916)
  31. Diceroprocta vitripennis (Say, 1830) aka Green Winged Cicada
  32. Hadoa bifida (Davis, 1916)
  33. Hadoa chiricahua Davis, 1923
  34. Hadoa duryi Davis, 1917
  35. Hadoa inaudita Davis, 1917
  36. Hadoa longiopercula Davis, 1926
  37. Hadoa parallela Davis, 1923
  38. Hadoa simplex Davis, 1941
  39. Hadoa texana Metcalf, 1963
  40. Hadoa townsendii (Uhler, 1905)
  41. Magicicada cassinii (Fisher, 1852) aka Cassini 17-Year Cicada
  42. Magicicada neotredecim Marshall and Cooley, 2000
  43. Magicicada septendecim (Linnaeus, 1758) aka Linnaeus’s 17-Year Cicada
  44. Magicicada septendecula Alexander and Moore, 1962
  45. Magicicada tredecassini Alexander and Moore, 1962
  46. Magicicada tredecim (Walsh and Riley, 1868)
  47. Magicicada tredecula Alexander and Moore, 1962
  48. Megatibicen auletes (Germar, 1834) aka Northern Dusk Singing Cicada
  49. Megatibicen cultriformis (Davis, 1915) aka Grand Western Flood Plain Cicada
  50. Megatibicen dealbatus (Davis, 1915) aka Plains Cicada
  51. Megatibicen dorsatus (Say, 1825) aka Giant Grassland Cicada
  52. Megatibicen figuratus (Walker, 1858) aka Fall Southeastern Dusk-singing Cicada
  53. Megatibicen harenosus Cole 2017
  54. Megatibicen pronotalis pronotalis Davis, 1938
  55. Megatibicen resh (Haldeman, 1852) aka Resh Cicada
  56. Megatibicen resh (Haldeman, 1852) aka Resh Cicada
  57. Megatibicen resonans (Walker, 1850) aka Southern Resonant Cicada
  58. Megatibicen tremulus Cole, 2008 aka Cole’s Bush Cicada
  59. Neocicada chisos (Davis, 1916)
  60. Neocicada hieroglyphica aka Hieroglyphic Cicada
  61. Neocicada hieroglyphica johannis (Walker, 1850)
  62. Neoplatypedia constricta Davis, 1920
  63. Neotibicen auriferus (Say, 1825) aka Plains Dog-day Cicada
  64. Neotibicen canicularis (Harris, 1841) aka Dog-day Cicada
  65. Neotibicen davisi aka Davis’ Southeastern Dog-Day Cicada
  66. Neotibicen latifasciatus (Davis, 1915) aka Coastal Scissor(s) Grinder Cicada
  67. Neotibicen linnei (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907) aka Linne’s Cicada
  68. Neotibicen lyricen engelhardti (Davis, 1910) aka Dark Lyric Cicada
  69. Neotibicen lyricen lyricen (De Geer, 1773) aka Lyric Cicada
  70. Neotibicen lyricen virescens Davis, 1935 aka Costal Lyric Cicada
  71. Neotibicen pruinosus pruinosus (Say, 1825) aka Scissor(s) Grinder
  72. Neotibicen robinsonianus Davis, 1922 aka Robinson’s Annual Cicada or Robinson’s Cicada
  73. Neotibicen similaris apalachicola Marshall and Hill, 2017
  74. Neotibicen similaris similaris (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907) aka Similar Dog-Day Cicada
  75. Neotibicen superbus (Fitch, 1855) aka Superb Dog-Day Cicada
  76. Neotibicen tibicen australis (Davis, 1912) aka Southern Swamp Cicada
  77. Neotibicen tibicen tibicen (Linnaeus, 1758) aka Morning Cicada
  78. Neotibicen winnemanna (Davis, 1912) aka Eastern Scissor(s) Grinder
  79. Okanagana balli Davis, 1919
  80. Okanagana bella Davis, 1919 aka Mountain Cicada
  81. Okanagana canadensis (Provancher, 1889) aka Canadian Cicada
  82. Okanagana fumipennis Davis, 1932
  83. Okanagana hesperia (Uhler, 1872)
  84. Okanagana rimosa rimosa (Say, 1830) aka Say’s Cicada
  85. Okanagana synodica synodica (Say, 1825) aka Walking Cicada
  86. Okanagana utahensis Davis, 1919
  87. Okanagana vanduzeei Distant, 1914
  88. Okanagana viridis Davis, 1918 aka Cotton Green Cicada
  89. Pacarina puella Davis, 1923 aka Little Mesquite Cicada
  90. Platypedia putnami putnami (Uhler, 1877)
  91. Platypedia similis Davis, 1920

Websites that feature North American Cicada Calls:

April 18, 2017

When do cicadas sing?

Filed under: Behavior,Sounds — Dan @ 6:37 am

Most, if not all cicadas sing during the day, but what time of day they sing depends on the species and the weather. There are over 3,000 species of cicadas, and each has its own unique behavior.

Typically, cicadas do not sing at night, but there are exceptions. Most of the time when you hear an insect at night, it’s a cricket or katydid.

Most cicadas love the sun, so rain and cloudy skies will decrease the likelihood they will sing. Temperature also affects whether or not they will sing. If it is too cold, or too hot cicadas won’t sing. Tolerance for temperature depends on the species.

Cicadas, depending on the species, will sing depending on the number and proximity of other cicadas in their area. Periodical cicadas, when there are enough in a given area, will synchronize their songs forming a chorus (a group effort to attract females).

When they sing during the day, under perfect conditions, depends on the species. Each species has its favorite time to sing, for example, in North America:

  • Neotibicen tibicen, also known as Morning Cicadas, typically sing before noon.
  • Neotibicen latifasciatus, aka Coastal Scissor Grinder Cicada, seem to sing throughout the day, taking breaks during the most brutal sunlight and temperatures.
  • Megatibicen auletes, also know as the Northern Dusk-Singing Cicada, sings for about a half hour around sunset.
  • Periodical cicadas, like Magicicada septendecim, typically sing between 10am and 5pm.

Recapping, when cicadas sing depends on:

  1. The species
  2. The amount of light (sun or artificial)
  3. The amount of cicadas in a given area
  4. Rain, clouds, and other “bad weather”
  5. The temperature

Cicadas can be surprising “rule breakers” so don’t be surprised to hear them when least expected.

More examples and references to come…

April 15, 2017

How do cicadas make sounds / noise

Filed under: Sounds — Tags: , — Dan @ 2:09 pm

Some people hear a cicada sing, and hear a beautiful song, while others hear an irritating noise. But how do they create the sounds?

Magicicada septendecim tymbal
The ridged organ in this photo is a tymbal, the organ male cicadas use to create their songs.

Cicadas make sounds in quite a few ways: with tymbal organs, wing flicks, wing clicks, and stridulations.

Male cicadas sing using their tymbals

tymbal animation
Muscles tug at it rapidly to create sound vibrations.

Cicadas are best known for the songs the male cicadas sing. They sing using special organs called tymbals. Tymbals are membranes that vibrate very quickly when pulled by tiny muscles. This vibration creates the cicada’s song. Some types of cicadas have exposed tymbals, like Magicicada or Zammara. Some species have hidden tymbals, like Neotibicen, and flex their abdomen to open their tymbal covers to modulate their song.

Each type of song made with tymbals has a different purpose:

  • Alarm/distress calls: “don’t eat me! something is eating me!”
  • Pre-calls: warming up
  • Calls to attract mates and establish a territory
  • Courting calls: calls made once a mate is found.
  • Choruses: when males synchronize their calls to establish chorusing centers and attract females.

Wing flicks and stridulations

Females and males of some species flick their wings to produce a sound similar to the flick of a wall switch. Females use wing flicks to respond to male courting calls, in the case of Magicicada periodical cicadas. Some males of other species use a combination of tymbal song and wing flicks.

Some species of cicadas lack tymbals, like cicadas belonging to the genus Platypedia. They use their wings to make crackling or popping noises known as crepitation. Amphipsalta zelandica of New Zealand use wing-clicks to communicate.

Stridulations: Some cicadas, like Australia’s Green Grocer, possess raspe-like parts of their bodies which when stroked with part of a wing produces yet another type of cicada sound. This type of sound is called a stridulation.

Cyclochila australasiae stridulatory structures

Tettigarcta vibrate the earth

Lastly, some species like those belonging to the genus Tettigarcta vibrate the substrate (soil, plant matter, etc) they live in, rather than vibrating the air.

November 20, 2014

Magicicada cassini singing on hand

Filed under: Brood XIV,Magicicada,Roy Troutman,Sounds,Video — Tags: — Dan @ 8:48 am

From Roy Troutman: “I shot a video back in 1991 of a 17 year Magicicada cassini singing right on my hand.”

Magicicada cassini singing on hand from Roy Troutman.

November 19, 2014

Magicicada cassini calls, chorusing & responses to finger snaps

Filed under: Brood II,Magicicada,Periodical,Sounds,Video — Tags: — Dan @ 8:00 am

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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