HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 13, 2001 - Hearing the calls of the wildHearin
e Suffolk Times • September 13, 2001
the calls of the wild
rnotos oy rsaroara anu raw oruumi iuu, y.
We hear the cicada, left, with its buzzing sounds that increase and decrease in volume, all meant for calling the female. Center: We often overlook the raspy call
of the grasshopper, which adds to the summer chorus of insect sounds. The katydid, right, repeats its "Katy -did, katy- didn't" calls throughout the hot, humid
days and nights of late August and early fall. Attracting a mate is what it's all about.
ONE OF THE JOYS OF LATE August
and early September is the sound of
the katydids and cicadas (locally
known as locusts) that we hear singing
in the treetops. These, along
with the accompaniment of
if
crickets, grasshoppers, tree
frogs and a host of other
ON
unknown songsters, create
one of nature's true sym-
phonies. The best rendition
of their calls can be heard
during the hot, humid days _
and nights of late summer.
The vocalist we are most familiar
with is the one we hear calling,
Katy -did, katy - didn't." This large,
green - colored fellow sings his contin-
ual song in hopes of attracting a lady
fair. When mating is successful, the
female lays her eggs on leaves, where
they remain until spring when they
hatch with the warmth of
spring's longer days. Ther
it's continual feeding on
the new and tender vege-
tation that readies them
for mating later on. This
wintering over is how
many insects perpetuate
their species, as most
adults insects die when
the cold of winter takes over.
The chorus of insect sounds we hea
in the late summer is something like
the calline we hear in the earlv shrine
Focus
NATURE
by Paul
Stoutenburgh
when the peepers, toads and frogs wives." '
head for the nearest pond, where they So what does all this mean these
call for the females to mate and fay noisy insects we hear at night makingtheireggsforthenextgenerationtothefamiliarsoundsoflatesummerin
come forth.
Along with the call of the katydids the treetops? Some may pass it by as
nothing, whereas others look to the
is the raspy call of the cicada that rises Creator and marvel. There are still
and falls in volume. Once lured to others who pass it off as a wonder of
mating, the female lays her eggs in evolution. No matter how you look at
slits she makes in twigs. The eggs it, there is something there that's mys-
develop and the young drop to the terious and wonderful.
ground and burrow in to start their
long underground stay.
To me, if you start to appreciate
these sounds of the night, you're start -
You often find these stubby - looking ing to realize that there's a pretty
cicadas (locusts) dead after they have wonderful world around us and by lis- mated. We find their spent bodies on tening we become part of this world.
our driveways and sidewalks, and this The important thing is we're listening. year we even found one dead on our Yet I'm afraid there's a multitude of
picnic table.
Cicadas are odd - looking insects,
people who go through life not listen -
ing, seeing, touching or smelling thetheirbodiesthesizeandthicknessofwondersaboutthem.
the first joint of one of your fingers. They live in a lost world where elec-
They have clear, lacy wings that are tronic wizardry, advertisements and
longer than their body. There are easy money have captured their
many species of cicadas. The eriodi- minds. They no longer are apart of
cal cicadas stay in the the soil and trees and
ground 13 to 17 years,
feeding on the juices of there s a pretty running water, the fish
and animals and birds
roots before emerging. wonderful world and flowers that make
The one we hear
singing in the treetops around us and by up the natural world
is a different speciesP listening we that surrounds.
Today's hustle and
and emerges anywhere become part of bustle sets aside those
from one to three years
from its underground this world. wonders that you and I
home. While there is
have come to appreci-
ate. It's too bad today'slooksmuchlikealargegrub. world is slowly becoming one made
Upon emerging, it climbs up the
closest bush or tree and sheds its
up of a multitude of "things" that
block out the sights and sounds of the
underground coat. It then is trans- real world. Don't get me wrong, I stillformedintothecicadathatwehearusethecar, rely on electricity to makebuzzingonthosehotsummernights. life easier, have a computer along withThehottertheday, the louder and many other niceties that today's worldfasterthecallwillbe. As fall has to offer, but they are not what
approaches with its cooler weather, makes my world rewarding. It's thenoticehowthesoundsofthenighteverydayinvolvementinthenatural
diminish in tempo and volume. world with its surprises and beautySomedaysthey'll start calling in the that are always there for those who
morning. It's 9:30 a.m. as I write and seek them out.
one cicada has just started up. It's a P.S. WARNING - WARNING -
hot and humid day. It will call WARNING. I've been getting numer-
throughout the day, reaching its peak ous telephone calls about wasps' nests,
in the early evening. The female the basketball -size papier -mache hive
cicadas sing, unlike the female with hundreds of ornery white -faced
grasshoppers, which are silent. The hornets, and what to do about them.
male grasshoppers are equipped with Nothing, if they are away from humanspecialfrontwingsthatoverlapand
by means of scrapers they make a activity, but if they are near human
rasping sound. While looking through
activity, call in an exterminator to get
rid of them. Don't try to get rid of
some material for this article, I ran them yourself. They can be dangerous.
across this cute couplet about the Once winter comes all but the queen
silent female grasshopper:
Happy
will die, never to use the hive again.
are the grasshoppers' lives The queen will burrow into the ground
Because they all have noiseless and start a new nest next spring.