Noisy Nights

The nights are not quiet. I have been labeling the shrill, metallic tones and monotonous rhythms "cicada," but New York Times writer Peter Applebome set me straight in his Our Towns column of August 20 entitled "Summer's Joyful Chorus: Rattle, Hiss, Buzz."

The insect sounds we hear are produced by crickets, cicadas, and katydids. Cicadas sing exclusively by day, so it is not they who produce the sound I'd call "techno" if it emanated from a badly-sited nightclub in the back pasture.

The frequency of cricket sounds is such that humans find it pleasant. I can pick out their undertone, which I hear around the clock if I pause and listen.

Therefore the ghastly metallic trilling we hear must be produced by katydids, even though that's a sweet folksy name for creatures that can sound like a bandsaw. I looked these creatures up and found sites that feature their pictures, species by species -- there are at least forty kinds of katydid in the U.S. Many are a pretty pale green. They look wholly innocent of the racket they make.

Earlier this summer I watched at dusk while a cicada made its way out of its casing and spread its wings bit by bit to dry. At the time I could not find a category for what I'd seen, which seems like a strange mental lapse, but there you have it.