The smallest Orchestra Member

Although little, the Brazilian cicada makes up for its size with the loud sounds that emerges from its little body. The male cicada’s produces songs which are made up of a series of clicks (Aidley, 1969). These clicks are produced by the collapsing of two very special regions of their body called the cuticle and the tymbals (Aidley, 1969). Both of these regions are located in the first segment of the abdomen (Aidley, 1969). The collapsing of is achieved but the contraction of two muscles on the tymbals (Aidley, 1969). One contraction of this muscle creates two clicks; an in click when the tymbals are pulled in and an out click when the tymbal is returned to its original position (Aidley, 1969).  The Brazilian Cicada has 4 different type of songs; the continuous song, the ‘zeep’ call, the distress call and the induced song (Aidley, 1969). The continuous song is a uninterrupted sequence of clicks for up to 20 seconds made by a undisturbed insect in their natural environment (Aidley, 1969).The ‘zeep’ call is a train of clicks lasting about half a second, repeated at intervals of 3-4 seconds (Aidley, 1969). This call is produced by undisturbed animals in their natural surroundings (Aidley, 1969). The next call, the distress call is a sequence of loud clicks interrupted often at intervals of 30 milliseconds (Aidley, 1969). This call is produced by disturbed animals upon capture or in response to pinching (Aidley, 1969). The final call, the induced song is caused when the insect is pinned down onto a cork board in the lab or it can be stimulated naturally (Aidley, 1969). There is no set click sequence or rate as it is different every time (Aidley, 1969). For this organism there is a call or sound for every occasion.

Bibliography

Aidley, D., 1969. Sound Produuction in a Brazilian Cicada. Experimental biology , Volume 51, pp. 325-337.