Song of Summer was originally published in the BFEC Newsletter, Vol. 13/No. 3, Summer 2009.
Every year the spring explosion of singing birds and frogs slowly ebbs with the heat of summer, but is soon followed by the growing volume of insect songs. Among our local noise makers are crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, and cicadas. Katydids (pictured below) are sometimes called “long-horned grasshoppers” due to their similarity in shape and long antennae. Like crickets, they sing by rubbing their wings against each other. Grasshoppers, on the other hand, rub their wings against their hind legs, while cicadas sing with a completely different organ located on their abdomens.
Katydids are often found in grassy meadows and sing when it’s warm and sunny. Not as melodic as crickets, their songs are soft, “reminiscent of the rhythmic sounds made by a shaker of rice or sand.” This is according to Wil Hershberger, author of the astounding book The Songs of Insects. Stop by our office to take a look at its beautiful photography and listen to a CD of the insect sounds of summer.