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Singing Insect Notecards
Soundscape CD
Other Insect Books etc.
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Vocabulary of Insect Song
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| The vocabularly of insect song is rich and descriptive. In the table below click on the music icon to hear an example of the sound being defined. Be sure to click on the music icon again to stop play back of that sound before going on to another. |
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Crepitation - Snapping the wings taught in flight to produce a clicking or popping sound. Used by some species of short horned grasshoppers when fleeing predators or attracting mates
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Stridulation - crickets and katydids - the front pair of wings are highly modified particularly in the male of each species. The bottom surface on one front wing has a small ridge with fine teeth called a file. The top surface of the opposite front wing has a long hardened ridge without teeth that is referred to as a scraper. As the male insect closes his front wings he allows the file to glide along the scraper. On the opening stroke no sounds is produced. As the file interacts with the scraper tiny membranes in the front wings vibrate and in so doing vibrate that air around them. This produces the lovely sounds that we hear.
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Stridulation - short-horned grasshopper, locusts - some species of locusts stridulate by rubbing small pegs on the inner surface of their hind legs against the outter edge of their front wings only on the down stroke. This produces a very quiet yet pleasing shushing sound that cannot be heard from very far away. Carefully listening is required to detect these songs that are often given from coarse weeds and grasses. These short-horned grasshoppers seem to prefer to sing during the heat of the day.
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Cicadas - while certainly a singing insect, the cicadas do not stridulate or crepitate. Cicadas are the loudest of all North American insects producing an enormous amount of sound energy. Cicadas use a tymbal structure located on the sides of their abdomens near the thorax. A powerful muscle attaches to stout ribs that hold the tymbal taught As the muscle contract the tymbal pops inward creating a series of sharp loud pops. Similarly, these sounds are produced again as the muscle is relaxed and the tymbal pops back out into place. Cicadas ears are right next to the tymbals. In order to prevent severe over loading of the sensitive hearing structures, cicadas have a special muscle in their ears that actually folds the ear creating a crease. This makes the ear far less sensitive to the high levels of sound produced while the individual is singing. |
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