I was walking in the local woods yesterday, and the sound of the cicadas was deafening! It soundedlike a loud power saw…yest these insects are only around 1" long. How do they manage to make so much noise ?
Another thing…I understand that these insects spend most of their lives underground…how long do they stay before emerging to make all of this racket?
Anecdote: Just this weekend I was out with my electric weed-whacker when a huge black bug started circling me. I managed to nail him with the whacker (thus christening Eric the Half-a-Cicada), but a few minutes later another one showed up and landed right on may arm. AAAAUGH! It was at that point that I realized it was a cicada and that it was attracted to the high-pitched buzz of the weed-whacker. Freaky.
Heres a cool website that tells why how and lets you listen.
http://pulseplanet.nationalgeographic.com/ax/archives/01_naturetemplate.cfm?programnumber=2158
" Cicadas make this sound by vibrating drum-like organs on their abdomen"
wonder how loud that would mean if they’re human sized. (ignoring that they’ll collapse and all)
Well, imagine a guitar god on a hillside with enough speakers to not only rattle the teacups in every home in the valley, but to set every dog within 28 miles to yowling. Further imagine that every hot, sweet, ripe cicada in the valley knows just where to fly for a good time.
Yeah, it’s like that.