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Cicadas – The Sound Of The Turkish Summer

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We’ve got a new pet. A cicada! We love cicadas…

Well, when I say new ‘pet,’ I mean more of a new ‘periodical visitor.’

This Turkish insect, part of the Cicadoidea superfamily of insects in the order Hemiptera (apparently), has been with us for the last few days.

And I’d lay a good bet that he’s with us now, as I write. But, strangely, he’s the first one we’ve heard for a long time.

Isn’t he a little / big beauty, though?

Cicadas
A visiting cicada in our garden

His orange membranous wings and veins are amazing. Their underside have black bodies it seems, but we’ve not had a chance to see that side of him yet.

Granted, a lot of people are going to look at our pet cicada and think he’s a pretty scary looking being.

A couple of years ago, I would have been in that camp too. I’m not brave with wildlife.

But ‘big things’ fly about in Turkey. And I’ve taught myself over time that these things are not out to eat me all up or bite me or sting me.

That’s not what they’re born to do.

They’re just doing what they do (hmm, although that might involve a bite or a sting if I annoy them in some way!).

Adult Male Cicada
Adult males are the sound of summer

Of course, Barry has been trying to drum this into my head for years.

But it doesn’t matter how often someone tells you that – creepy crawlies are creepy crawlies.

Anyway, I’ve got brave now. And I actually quite like live, non-human-beings, these days.

I was very brave, I thought, getting so close to our cicada to get a photo.

For two days now, he’s been singing loudly at the top of his voice. And the sound was coming from one of the young trees right in front of the balcony.

For one cicada, the noise is amazingly loud.

We knew which tree trunk it was on. But we couldn’t see him (and actually, why is there just one cicada? Has he got lost?)

Then, this morning, he landed on the side of the tree bark and we could see his profile.

I crept up to get my photo – see above – and then did a quick Wiki research on them. Some have bright red eyes, apparently, but ours doesn’t for some reason.

And, fortunately for me, they don’t bite or sting or whatever.

They’re just big noisy insects. And the noisy ones are the blokes. Hence me calling our cicada a ‘he’.

He is very noisy.

What I didn’t find out on Wiki is why they make the noise they make.

If it’s a mating call, then our pet cicada is being a bit stupid because his nearest potential conquests are in the forests up the road!

Annual cicadas are native to many parts of the world; Turkey and Greece being two areas where they prevail.

If you’re unsure what a cicada is (you very rarely see them, hence my interest today) but you know this area of Turkey, they are the noise coming from the forested areas; an almost screeching sound.

The sound they give off has connotations, for us, of, ‘Wow, it’s hot. Why am I outside in this heat? Get me a drink!’

Wiki backed that up today when I read that winged adult cicadas screech loudly and proudly at temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and above.

That’ll be why we’ve heard a lot of cicada noise this early summer then!

On our very first holiday to Fethiye in the late summer of 1998, we stayed up the very steep hill, on the Karagözler, at the Pirlanta Hotel.

Our room backed onto the forested hillside and therefore the very loud song of plenty of cicadas.

Nothing even entered our heads about what these things were. We were just loving the ‘sounds of abroad.’

So we had a good chuckle when we heard a fellow guest complaining to reception about the noise from the hills – and whether it would be possible to turn it down!

He said it would be the last time he ever came to Turkey.

I kid you not…

Cicadas – FAQs

What do cicadas eat?

Well, we’re not sure exactly if they are eating or drinking to be honest, but cicada adults ‘imbibe’ something called xylem from the tree roots on which they are currently residing.

Can we eat cicadas?

Apparently, yes you can.

But the idea doesn’t really get our appetites flowing. If you do fancy a nibble on one, then allegedly, female cicadas are a bit more meaty in texture.

Why can’t we hear different types of cicadas all of the time?

Cicadas are a bit fussy about soil temperatures it seems.

Large groups tend to only start coming out of their hidey-holes when the ground temperature stay at around 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit) for a few days.

Are some common species of cicadas a pest?

Some websites we’ve seen say that large numbers of cicadas can cause something they call ‘cicada damage’ to mature trees and the small branches of fruit trees.

But it seems that most experts say that even huge numbers of cicadas are usually pretty harmless in your garden.

Adult females lay eggs in the branches of shrubs and small trees but they then live most of their lives in underground burrows.

What is a ‘brood’ of periodic cicadas?

People (ie. scientists) who know much more about these things than we do tend to group periodical cicadas into ‘broods’ of a certain year.

These experts designate each brood by different Roman numerals so they can be identified and studied to advance our knowledge of these insects.

However, it would seem that ‘periodic’ cicadas are only found in North America, whilst ‘annual’ cicadas are much more widespread.

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Celeste

Friday 27th of August 2010

The first time I saw a firefly was while camping in Ontario. At dusk these little lights started popping up here & there among the evergreens. I was quite mesmorized. Quite taken with them they provided my imagination with all manner of ideas for writing. I thought them magical.Now the cicadas....another story.

Turkey's For Life

Tuesday 24th of August 2010

You must have heard them though, Shane? Screechy things. :)

Celeste, we've never seen a firefly. Now that would be amazing! We quite like the look of our cicada but as a recent convert to the apparent beauty of the animal kingdom, I can see why some people wouldn't like the look of your new friend. :)

Celeste

Monday 23rd of August 2010

I am also saying, "wow" having never seen one before.While living in Florida I became accustomed to their loud hum. Very interesting to see one.Then, while in Kansas last month I heard the familiar hum once again. I was though, very taken with the fireflies instead.Nature is amazing.

Shane

Monday 23rd of August 2010

Wow, never seen anything like that where we live in Didim. And, to be honest, I hope it stays that way.

Turkey's For Life

Sunday 22nd of August 2010

First time for us too Serap. We get the frogs in spring as well. Now, that is a strange noise. My dad was here in spring this year and just would not believe that it was frogs making all the noise.

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