What Insect is Making All the Racket?
It's a miserably hot and humid day here in Minnesota. When you walk outside you feel like you could cut the humidity with a knife. The local news just affirmed it for me as the temperature is 93 degrees with a heat index of 103.
The news anchor must have read my mind . He said that lately, on these hot days, he is hearing a very loud noise. He asked his co-anchor if she remembered the name of the insect that makes that really high-pitched noise that sounds like a saw. Neither one of them could remember the name of this intriguing insect, so I decided to find out for myself. Hope this will fill-in the blanks if you have been wondering why your ear drums hurt lately.
There are a few insects that make beautiful music for us in the summer months.Katydid's,Crickets, and Cicada's . Crickets songs differ from the Katydid and Cicada. The Cricket is easy to hear with the human ear because their carrier frequencies are low and pure. Katydid's and Cicada's musical sound is raspy, buzzy and whiney because their carrier frequencies are less pure and higher than crickets.
Dave Dahl at channel five news, if you are still curious as to the insect that sounds like a distant buzz saw, it's "the Cicada." The Cicada is approximately 1-2" long with a stout body. It has large,transparent wings that are well-veined. The insect has large eyes that are spread far apart on it's head. The Cicada is said to be the "dog days of summer" insect as it becomes very vocal from early July to September. You notice the insect making the loudest noises on the hottest summer days. The reason for this is that both the Cicada and Katydid are cold-blooded insects. The hot weather warms up their little instrument which is their body.
The Katydid differs from the Cicada in that they call out during the night time hours. They can be found in most outdoor locations unlike the Cicada that likes woody areas. The Katydid looks similiar to a large green grasshopper. Past pioneers named the insect Katydid because they thought its' call sounded like, "Katy-Did."
