Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
If you time the chirping of crickets, there's a simple formula you can use to figure out the ambient temperature. But in Singapore, at midday, with cloudless blue skies, you already know it's hot. Which is just as well, because those are cicadas. Cicadas.
In eastern USA, 2021 is when brood exocardas emerged from underground for the first time in 17 years. Yeah, 17 years. These are periodic exocardas, and when they come out, they come out by the trillions. They mate, the female lays eggs in tree branches, those hatch and fall back to the soil. The young nymphs then burrow down, and they disappear for 17 years.
It's the weirdest life cycle of any creature on earth. Cicadas in Singapore, on the other hand, are active all year round and the noise of cicadas can be heard all day long. When you get a bunch of them together, the sound can be ridiculously loud, to the point of causing permanent hearing loss.
It's the males that sing, and the cycle consists of an initially constant rhythm, which speeds up and eventually becomes a continuous note, before falling silent. Listen carefully. Here's one full cycle. Oh, by the way, if you're standing under a tree on a sunny day and feel raindrops, it's likely to be cicadas peeing on you.
You've been hearing cicadas. Here is Fort Siloso, postal code 099981. Check out this episode's show notes for more information or visit our website, hearhere.show.