Creature Feature – Late Summer Soundtrack

Taking their cues from the shortening daylight, most songbirds have ceased singing. The quiet of late summer can be unsettling in the wake of the near-constant hullabaloo earlier in the season. The other day as dusk was falling, the deep stillness was almost palpable. Soon, however, the crickets and katydids began their evening chorus, reminding me that summer’s music hadn’t died—Mother Nature was simply composing a new medley.

The two- or three-beat song of the katydid is a quintessential sound of late summer. Occasionally, the isolated notes of a solitary katydid reaches our ears, “Cha-cha! Cha-Cha!” Often though, the symphony from an orchestra-full of the thumb-sized, lime-green insects produces an overlapping barrage of repetitive, pulsating beats that sound more like, “Katy-did, Katy-didn’t…” 

No voice box needed—the male katydid “sings” with wings to attract a mate! A serrated ridge, called a file, runs across the base of the left wing, just behind the head. A nub on the right wing lines up opposite the file. Like a fiddler wielding a bow, the katydid draws the wing bases together, passing the nub over the file to create a percussive scratchy buzz. His iconic song gets amplified by a wing patch similar to the skin on a banjo. Incredibly, some katydid species can strum over one hundred times per second! Also amazing is that female katydids hear these love songs through specialized nerves in their legs.

As you enjoy the rest of your summer, be sure to tune in to the late season soundtrack!

Article & photo by Margie Manthey