September 1, 2023
Male tree crickets are responsible for the nighttime trilling we hear in late August. By rubbing their wings together, like a finger dragged across the top of a plastic comb, they create the relentless buzzing which makes you think your tinnitus has suddenly gotten much worse. In reality, it’s the sound of hundreds of insects looking for a mate, and it’s the sound of summer nearing its end.
Because crickets are cold blooded, the ambient temperature affects the speed with which they move - including how quickly they can rub their wings together. The colder they become, the slower their chirping is until they fall completely silent after the first hard frost. You can tell the temperature outside by counting the number of chirps they make in 15 seconds and adding 40. (For Celsius count the number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3 and add 4.)
Cicadas are what you hear during the heat of the day and Katydids are what you hear in the evening. The sound of Katydids is easily distinguished from crickets. It’s as if they are arguing with themselves as they’ll call out “katy did - katy did - katy did did, - katy did not”
August nights with that chorus of crickets and katydids used to fill me with absolute dread. It meant I’d be going back to school soon and stuck in a classroom, bored senseless until spring. Now, it’s just a gentle reminder that there’s much to be done before this season ends. We need to stack more firewood and cut all of our hay for the winter. We need to harvest the hazelnuts soon before the squirrels beat us to it. We need to pick a ram and move him in with the ewes if we want any lambs in the spring. We need to put a light on in the coop before the days become much shorter, or the hens will stop laying completely. There is in fact a lot to be done and fewer hours left in the day with which to do it. I don’t mind though. Each season is as special as the next and as long as I don’t have to get on the school bus in the morning, I’m really quite happy just listening to the nighttime chorus of hundreds of insects arguing and falling in love.