Summer song warming up as cicadas start emerging

A chorus cicada. PHOTO: SID MOSDELL VIA FLICKR
A chorus cicada. PHOTO: SID MOSDELL VIA FLICKR
The shrill of cicadas define hot summers on the West Coast, but even in the middle of a great summer this year the familiar song has been largely silent so far.

However, chorus cicadas are just starting to emerge in Reefton, and at the weekend they were back at Punakaiki.

Landcare Research scientist Dr Thomas Buckley said the species of cicada which made the most noise emerged more during late January and early February.

"People often don’t realise this, but it is only part of the summer where they are very loud.

"So, I would expect them to pick up in the coming weeks.

"The weather might affect things a little bit."

Some smaller species of cicada sang at high frequency and many adults could not hear them "as we lose our high frequency hearing as we age".

Reefton weather observer Tony Fortune said they had returned to the Reefton bush, going "hammer and tongs".

"They are getting more prevalent along with the wasps."

In the Grey Valley, Trevor Johnson, of Atarau, said he had heard them over the past couple of weeks.

"It’s not sensational. I can remember that really hot summer when they were all through town, on the power-poles, screaming everywhere."

It would be interesting to see if numbers built up this summer, Mr Johnson said.

While the adults perform a chorus in summer, they only live for about two to four weeks.

Before this, they spend most of their lives underground in their nymph stage.

Female cicadas do not sing; it is the male cicadas you can hear competing for a mate.

They owe their ability to their tymbal, an organ made up of rib-like structures that, when buckled, make a loud noise.

Like a musical instrument, the cicada’s body is primarily hollow, amplifying the sound. — Greymouth Star

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