Cicadas are the loudest singing insects in the world. The most famous cicadas are the seventeen-year variety, but there are 200 different types of cicada. Here on the farm we are overrun by cicadas every summer. (That’s right, it’s summer here.) Male cicadas have “timbals” on each side of their abdomens. These timbals are basically muscles that contract and release, clicking each time. The male cicada’s abdomen is fairly hollow, and serves as a kind of echo chamber. He contracts and expands his timbals so quickly that these clicks become one long, loud hum. It’s really a mating call. (Hey, sweetheart, listen to my timbals.) The call sounds like the buzz you might hear walking under some high-voltage power lines. Most days, the male cicadas sing in unison and the noise makes my eardrums vibrate. They like to start their courtship rituals early, too. They sing at 4 AM (thousands of vibrating timbals make for an interesting wake-up call), noon, and again at dusk.

So, in the summer months, the men sing and attract some ladies. The ladies get pregnant, cut slits into the bark of a tree, and lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch the baby cicadas (or nymphs) fall to the ground and burrow under the dirt. They spend most of their lives underground, feeding off roots. When they reach adulthood, they dig themselves out of the dirt, shed their baby carapaces, and become male and female adults, ready to sing and to listen.

The dogs here like to eat cicadas. Apparently they are high in protein. I’ve been told that, crispy fried, cicadas are pretty tasty.

Here’s a cool video of a cicada molting into an adult.