MarkGeldmeier's Blog

On both Saturday and Sunday evening, just before sunset -- I heard Cicadas singing.  The warm weather got them going...but I think this is the first time I've heard them still singing in October.  It's interesting how the temperature affects the activity of insects.

This year I heard the first Cicada around June 15th.  For me they define the beginning of the "dog days" of summer.  Cicadas sing during the day and seem to get louder as the temperature gets hotter.  The activity peaks in late July....and I think most of them don't live much longer than a few weeks after that.

I heard the first Katydid on June 30th....a warm and humid evening.  Katydids sing during the night, but also seem more active when the temperature is higher.  However, instead of singing louder...they throw in some extra "syllables" (singing "Ka-ty-did-it" instead of "Ka-ty-did" or just "Ka-ty").

In late summer evenings, it's interesting to listen for the moment when the Cicadas stop and the Katydids start up.  It usually happens about 30 minutes after sunset...with the "change-over" occuring in just a few minutes.  And it doesn't matter if you live in the city or the country....both of these insects are plentiful in urban and rural environments.

Crickets are also affected by the temperature....singing more slowly as the temperature cools.  For those of you that remember the old "Dave Murray's Almanac"....there was always a formula to estimate the temperature by counting cricket chirps.  I always thought this would be a good elementary school science project....plot the number of cricket chirps compared to the temperature each evening for a couple of weeks.  (there's still time to do this!)

As our 80 degree days now seem to over....we probably won't hear another Cicada for the next 8 months...but crickets and a few Katydids can still be heard.  At least until the first freeze or heavy frost -- which places winter's mantle of silence on the summer chorus!