A few weeks ago my sister was visiting my house and I took her on a tour of my garden. At one point she exclaimed “Good grief, the cicadas sure are noisy here!”
Dog-day Cicadas can produce noise over 100 decibels. In comparison, some vacuum cleaners hum at 80 decibels. Because the cicadas are above in the trees, the sound we hear on the ground isn’t as intense; however, in my neighborhood on a warm sticky night it can be almost deafening when dozens of the insects are in the oak trees vibrating at the same time.
The name Dog-day Cicada is a little misleading in my opinion considering I usually hear the first one just as summer is getting started. Last summer I heard the first one on June 20th. This summer it was July 2nd, which isn’t surprising considering our chilly spring.
This year we have more of the homely insects around than usual. The nymphs crawl out of the ground and look for vertical surfaces on which to molt. I found quite a number of their crunchy, brown carcasses clinging to my daylily scapes. One of my neighbors was less than pleased to keep discovering them on the legs of her patio furniture.
To me cicadas are the soundtrack to summer. Give me a tree full of buzzing cicadas over a city bus or leafblower anytime!