Kamakazi Cicada on Ashland Avenue
I was speaking with my neighbor Jim Schuetz this morning when a huge honkin' cicada dive-bombed him. He was standing on his porch when this awesome insect dropped from the sky and landed on his chest. It's funny, just the other day I was trying to describe what a cicada looks like to someone. These insects can be heard all summer long in the city. It is such a constant sound that you almost forget that they are here at all. How loud are cicadas? Some have been measured at 100 decibels at 20 yards away, which is loud enough to be heard over a lawnmower. An interesting thing to listen for on an evening walk in late summer is the end of the cicada chorus, which comes at dark. One by one, the males that produce the sound quite for the day and the drone gradually gives way to the sounds of the city.
When I returned home, Jim sent me this great photo of the funny looking bug. Thanks for the photo Jim. As I post this, the sounds of the cicadas resound through the neighborhood.
ciSumcaSumda (s?-k?'d?, -k 0/00'-) n., pl. -das or -dae (-d?'). Any of various insects of the family Cicadidae, having a broad head, membranous wings, and in the male a pair of resonating organs that produce a characteristic high-pitched, droning sound. Also called cicala. Cicadas are sometimes kept for their song in Asia, as they were in ancient Greece.
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drl
Now I can regain my sanity! I've been curious as to the source of this noise since I arrived in Buffalo about a month ago. Everyone I asked had no clue.
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Buffalo Bill
Rumor has it that once the cicadas begin to sing, it usually means 90 days before the first frost.
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Buffalo Bill
Rumor has it that once the cicadas begin to sing, it usually means 90 days before the first frost.
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