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September 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 making their eggs for the next generation to the familiar sounds of late summer in 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 the their bodies the size and thickness of wonders about them. 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 species P 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's looks much like a large grub. 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 still formed into the cicada that we hear use the car, rely on electricity to make buzzing on those hot summer nights. life easier, have a computer along with The hotter the day, the louder and many other niceties that today's world faster the call will be. As fall has to offer, but they are not what approaches with its cooler weather, makes my world rewarding. It's the notice how the sounds of the night everyday involvement in the natural diminish in tempo and volume. world with its surprises and beauty Some days they'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 human special front wings that overlap and 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.