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Article: CICADA'S MUSIC CONJURES SUMMER MAGIC THE LARGE INSECT'S MATING CALL BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND LONG SUMMER DAYS.(FRONT)(SCIENCE NOTEBOOK)(Column)
- Article from:
- The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)
- Article date:
- July 18, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Capital Newspapers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Ron Seely
Recent early evenings, sitting on our screen porch, I have heard cicadas begin their midsummer droning in the woods behind the house. The sound never fails to take me back to the small Illinois farm town where I grew up and the endless afternoons of July and August.
The cicada's thrumming call is as much a part of summer as birdsong or the fireflies that float up from the grass in the gathering dark.
Here in Wisconsin, when you hear that distinctive sound, you are likely hearing the mating call of a male Tibicen canicularis, also known as the dog-day or harvestfly cicada. They have 2- to 3-year overlapping life cycles and some ...