Cicadas are singing around West Tennessee
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JACKSON, Tenn. — If you’ve been outside lately, you’ve heard the noise. A constant buzzing, humming sound some may even call a roar — and it’s all because of the cicadas. “Sounds like something from outer space is landing,” Rick Mcminn said. Xavier Gautier said something similar. “It sounds more like UFOs,” he said. It’s actually the sound of male cicadas singing their mating call, which begins about four or five days after they hatch. “They actually have two drums on the sides, and they start pumping those drums which makes the sounds, and that’s how we hear the roar,” said Jake Mallard, the UT Extension agent for Madison County. The bugs emerge from the ground en masse every 13 years in order to shed their skins. “Each female can lay 400 to 600 eggs in their lifetime,” Mallard said. “The lifetime of the adult cicadas is anywhere from four to five weeks.” During the process, Mallard says the females can cause minor damage to tree limbs because they make stitch marks in the branch to have a place to lay their eggs. According to experts, cicadas are essentially harmless to humans. The only thing they are bothering is our ears. “The sound is very annoying if you come out here to enjoy your lunch like I do,” McMinn said. “It just about gives you a headache.” The noise is also annoying to Jay Montgomery. “It’s pretty annoying out here,” he said. “We try to hoop — play basketball — that’s all you hear, so just try to get over it.” Chuck Freeman said it is just something to get used to. “I remember the last time,” he said. “When it starts it’s like a science fiction movie or something — getting louder and louder.” Experts are saying to expect the mating call of the male cicadas to last a few more weeks. Mallard said the bugs should start to quiet down by the end of June.
