Why Do Cicadas Make Noise And How Do They Do It?

Cicadas make noise to find a mate. Males produce the sound, and females are the audience. The goal is simple: attract a partner, reproduce, and complete a life cycle that has been running for millions of years. The way they do it is one of the more unusual sound-producing mechanisms in the animal kingdom.

Why Do Cicadas Make Noise And How Do They Do It?

Male cicadas call to attract females. Each species has its own song pattern, and females recognize the right one. That is the entire purpose. It is not territorial, not a warning, and not random noise.

The mechanism is unlike anything a cricket or a bird uses. Cicadas do not rub body parts together. They do not push air through a voice box. Instead, they use a pair of built-in drum-like structures called tymbals.

Tymbals sit on the sides of the abdomen, just behind the wings. Each one is a ribbed membrane stiffened by a ring of cuticle. A powerful muscle pulls the membrane inward, and the ribs buckle as it moves. When the muscle relaxes, the membrane snaps back to its original shape. That snap produces a click. The muscle fires rapidly, and the clicks run together into a continuous buzz.

Here is the part that surprises most people. The sound is not amplified by pushing air out. The abdomen is mostly hollow and acts as a resonance chamber. In many species, a large air sac inside the body tunes the sound the way the body of a guitar or violin shapes its tone. The result is one of the loudest sounds produced by any insect.

How Loud Are Cicadas And How Do They Produce So Much Sound?

Cicada calls are among the loudest insect sounds on Earth. Some species can produce calls that reach roughly 90 to 120 decibels at close range. For comparison, a gas lawn mower runs around 90 decibels, and a chainsaw around 110. That is why a chorus of cicadas can drown out a conversation in a backyard.

Producing that much sound takes energy. The tymbal muscles of some cicadas are among the fastest-contracting muscles known in the animal kingdom. They can fire many times per second, which is what turns individual clicks into a sustained tone.

Not every part of the sound is meant for a mate. When a cicada is grabbed or disturbed, it often emits a loud alarm squawk. Some species also produce a softer sound that appears to function as a distress or disturbance call. The main mating song remains the loudest and most persistent.

Different species sing at different times of day. Some call in the heat of midday, others at dusk, and a few mostly at dawn. That timing helps females find males of their own species and reduces confusion in areas where several species overlap.

What Does The Cicada Song Actually Do?

The song is a courtship signal, and it carries species-specific information. A female hears a call and, if it matches her species, she responds. In many cicada species, the female answers with a soft wing flick or a short click. The male picks up that reply, moves closer, and the pair continues a back-and-forth exchange before mating.

This is why the sound is so relentless during peak season. A male that stops calling has almost no chance of finding a mate. The calling is the whole strategy.

There is a common misconception worth clearing up. People often assume the loud buzzing is a defense against predators. It is not. The sound attracts attention from birds, squirrels, and other animals that eat cicadas. The trade-off is real: being loud makes you easier to find, but it is the only way to reproduce.

Why Are Some Cicadas So Much Louder Than Others?

Volume varies by species and by body size. Larger cicadas generally produce louder calls, though the relationship is not perfectly linear. The structure of the tymbal, the size of the internal air sac, and the stiffness of the surrounding cuticle all affect how loud and how high-pitched the call is.

Periodical cicadas, the ones that emerge in massive synchronized broods every 13 or 17 years, are famous for their volume. The reason is not that each individual is unusually loud. It is that thousands of them call at the same time in the same place. The combined chorus can be overwhelming.

Annual cicadas, which appear every summer in smaller numbers, sing too. They are just spread out, so the sound feels less intense. If you hear cicadas every July, you are most likely hearing annual species, not periodical ones.

Do Female Cicadas Make Noise?

Female cicadas do not have functional tymbals and do not produce the loud mating call. In most species, the sound-making structures are either absent or reduced.

That does not mean females are silent. Many species can create soft sounds by flicking their wings or by moving their bodies in ways that produce clicks. These signals are part of courtship, and they are far quieter than the male song.

The division of labor is clear. Males do the calling. Females do the choosing. The loud noise is a male trait shaped by female preference over a very long evolutionary history.

Why Do Cicadas Sing At Certain Times And In Certain Weather?

Temperature drives cicada activity. Cicadas are cold-blooded, and their muscles work best when it is warm. On cool mornings or after a cold front, calling slows down or stops. On hot, humid afternoons, the chorus reaches full volume.

Time of day matters for the same reason. Midday heat supports the fastest muscle contractions. Some species have shifted their calling to dawn or dusk, likely to reduce competition with other species or to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Weather affects the season too. Cicadas emerge when soil temperature reaches a certain range, which varies by species and location. A cool spring can delay emergence. A warm one can push it earlier. The exact soil temperature threshold differs across species, so there is no single number that applies to all of them.

How Long Do Cicadas Keep Making Noise?

Adult cicadas live only a few weeks. During that time, males call almost continuously during daylight hours. Once they mate, their purpose is largely fulfilled, and they die soon after.

Periodical broods create a burst of sound that lasts several weeks and then stops. Annual cicadas produce a longer, lower-level chorus that stretches across the summer. Either way, the noise is temporary. It ends when the adults die, and the next generation is already underground, feeding on plant roots and waiting.

That underground phase is where most of a cicada’s life is spent. Periodical cicadas live as nymphs for 13 or 17 years. Annual cicadas spend several years underground as well, though their generations overlap, so some emerge every year. The loud above-ground phase is a small fraction of the total lifespan.

Is The Noise Harmful To People Or Pets?

The sound itself is not harmful. Cicadas do not bite or sting, and they are not venomous. The noise can be annoying, and at very close range it can be uncomfortable, but it does not damage hearing in any documented way.

There is one practical concern worth mentioning. Cicadas can be very loud in a confined space, and some people find the sound distressing, particularly if they are sensitive to noise. If the chorus is bothering you, closing windows and using fans or white noise can help reduce the effect indoors.

Pets sometimes eat cicadas. Cicadas are not toxic to dogs or cats, but eating large numbers can cause stomach upset. If your pet eats a lot of them and seems unwell, contact your veterinarian. This is a general precaution, not a specific warning tied to any documented poisoning risk.

Why The Sound Matters Beyond The Backyard

Cicada calls are studied by biologists interested in how insects communicate. The precision of the system is striking. A male produces a species-specific signal, a female recognizes it, and the two find each other in a crowded, noisy environment. The whole process depends on sound.

The next time the chorus starts, the explanation is straightforward. A male cicada is flexing a pair of ribbed membranes on its abdomen, hundreds of times per second, and the hollow body around those membranes turns the clicks into a drone. He is not angry, not warning anyone, and not defending territory. He is looking for a mate, and he has only a few weeks to find one.