Last year at this time, all the talk was about the emergence of billions of Brood X cicadas for the first time in 17 years. By early summer, they were all gone, not to be seen again for another 17 years.
This year, the summer once again belongs solely to the common, annual dog-day cicadas, whose ceaseless droning has long been the essence of a Georgia summer day. They are with us every summer.
Several dog-day cicada species occur in Georgia. Nearly all of them have prominent bulging eyes and large, semitransparent wings held rooflike over their nearly 2-inch-long bodies. They are so-named because they are at their loudest and most vociferous during July and August, the hottest time of the year known as the dog days of summer. The period (which begins around July 4) coincides with the time that Sirius, the Dog Star, is most prominent in the night sky, hence the name dog days.
It is in June, however, when dog-day cicada nymphs start emerging from underground burrows to transform into adults and mate and lay eggs. Around the first day of summer (June 21), some males already will be singing during the day, usually from trees, to attract silent females. With the onset of dog days, more males will be singing, building toward a crescendo by mid-to-late summer.
The males’ sounds are made by rapidly vibrating special organs called tymbals on the sides of their abdomens. The hotter the day, the louder the cicadas sing.
For the most part, dog-day cicada singing has been described as similar to the sounds of power tools in use — which may explain why some homeowners report that their whining lawnmowers or outdoor power saws actually attract female cicadas, which even land on the homeowners’ shoulders.
In another month or so, joining Georgia’s summer insect chorus will be the night singers, the crickets and the katydids. Both male and female katydids “sing” by rubbing their wings together to find each other in the dark.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be full on Tuesday — the “Green Corn Moon” as the Cherokee people called June’s full moon. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Mars are low in the east a few hours before sunrise. Saturn rises in the east about midnight.
Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.
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