why do cicadas make noise
Cicadas make all that noise mainly so males can attract females to mate, using a built‑in sound organ that turns their bodies into tiny amplifiers.
The main reason: love songs
Only male cicadas “sing,” and their chorus is mostly a mating call.
They call loudly so females of the same species can find them in crowded, noisy summer habitats.
Key purposes of the noise:
- Attracting females with a species‑specific song so they don’t mix with other cicada species.
- Gathering males together (congregation calls) so big choruses form, which are easier for females to locate.
- Courtship calls at close range, once a female has approached a male.
- “Alarm” squawks when they’re grabbed or disturbed, which may startle predators.
How they make the sound
Cicadas don’t rub wings like crickets; instead, males have special sound organs called tymbals.
What happens:
- Each male has a pair of ribbed tymbal membranes on the first abdominal segment.
- Powerful muscles pull the tymbal in and out 120–480 times per second, each movement making a sharp click.
- The clicks blur into a continuous buzz to our ears because they’re so fast.
- Hollow air sacs and an almost empty abdomen act like a resonating chamber, amplifying the sound dramatically.
This setup lets some cicada choruses reach around 90–100 decibels, roughly like a lawnmower or motorcycle.
Why they’re so loud together
When many males sing at once, their overlapping calls create the roaring “wall of sound” people notice in late spring and summer.
A few reasons this group noise is useful:
- Big choruses help females home in on the area where males are calling.
- The combined sound may confuse predators, making it hard to locate any single cicada. (Researchers discuss both cooperative and competitive strategies in choruses.)
- Different species prefer different times of day and temperatures, so the soundscape shifts with weather and time.
Mini FAQ and quick scoop
- Do females make noise? Females lack tymbals; some only make small clicks with their wings in response to males.
- Is it always the same sound? No. Each of roughly 3,000 species has its own pattern and pitch, like a unique ringtone.
- Why mostly in warm weather? Cicadas are more active in sunlight and warmth; if it’s too cool or extremely hot, they quiet down.
In short, the noise is cicada communication: a loud, finely tuned sound system evolved so tiny insects can find each other, flirt, and survive in a big, noisy world.
TL;DR: Male cicadas use special organs called tymbals plus hollow, resonant bodies to blast out mating songs that attract females, coordinate choruses, and sometimes startle predators.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.