# What kind of insect makes this noise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007 "2011-08-01T04:47:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/1 "2011-08-01T04:47:51Z")
Something out side my apartment recently (like a few nights ago) started making this loud hissing noise. It sounds like a person saying “Pssssssst”, but in a regular rhythm. This only happens at night. Whenever I go past the bush I think it’s living in, I give it a little swat and the sound stops for a while, but soon starts up again. Is it a cicada? It sounds similar to the sound on the wiki page for them, but not exactly the same. And how do I get rid of the noisy little bugger? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/2 "2011-08-01T05:05:08Z")
Where are you? Are you sure it’s an insect and not a legless venomous reptile with a rattly tail? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/3 "2011-08-01T11:16:51Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Where are you? Are you sure it’s an insect and not a legless venomous reptile with a rattly tail? At first glance, I read “legless venomous reptile with a _ **ratty** _ tail” and thought WTF?! I’m glad I read it again. _ **Rattly** _ tail, as in rattle-rattle-rattle. :smack: You are quite right to question the locale, LoveR might be in a part of the country where rattlesnakes are indigenous. If the noise only occurs\*\*\* as you are walking past \*\*\*the bush in question, you might want to give said bush a little extra room, rattlesnakes _ **will** _ “hush up”, so to speak. :eek: If the noise is constant all of the time though, not just as you pass, then I would think it’s probably some type of insect, as you first surmised. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/4 "2011-08-01T12:42:35Z")
I’m in central PA, and the rattling goes on and on during the night, not just when someone is nearby. This place is kitty-corner to two busy streets, so no idea how a snake would get here anyway. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/5 "2011-08-01T14:55:19Z")
I’m guessing locust. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/6 "2011-08-01T15:00:16Z")
Sounds like it’s probably a cicada, or possibly a cricket of some kind. And if that’s the case, there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. ☹ Maybe invest in a pair of those “noise cancelling” headphones? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/7 "2011-08-01T15:01:39Z")
In PA, probably not a rattler. I vote for cicada then. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/8 "2011-08-01T16:29:57Z")
How thick is the bush? Al the insects named are most likely to be found on the trunk during the day. Can you go check out the trunk of the bush and bag any cicadas or locusts or whatever you find there? (No crushing, we want pics! LOL!) ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/9 "2011-08-01T17:23:51Z")
Is it a [June Bug](http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/beetles/june_bug/), we used to get them every summer. When disturbed they would repeatedly make a pssh…pssh…pssh sound. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/10 "2011-08-01T18:26:16Z")
There are several varieties of katydid that make a noise like you described. Check the slender and common meadow katydid sounds for comparison at the Macaulay Library at Cornell here: [http://macaulaylibrary.org/search.do](http://macaulaylibrary.org/search.do) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/11 "2011-08-03T13:32:32Z")
I was more thinking of finding it and feeding it to the large spider in the web right above it’s bush. Circle of life! ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-insect-makes-this-noise/591007/12 "2011-08-06T00:24:34Z")
Someone mentioned a “Burning bush” to me today, and thanks to you I laughed in his face. He was not pleased with my reaction. . . 😉 Still, it’s an idea!