Show bicay cicadas da 3 love call can be heard for five miles the male 17 year locust or cicada weighs at maturity just about one tenth of one ounce yet he is equipped with a sound pro apparatus that can be heard under favorable atmospheric con editions at a distance of five miles notes a writer in m the washington post it is the insect insects s love call the call to its mate wherever she happens to be at the moment and if she is within a five mile range the range of his voice she is ex pecked to distinguish it from tens of thousands of other cicada love calls all drumming simultaneously and hasten to his side the noise is made with the aid of the insect s hollow abdomen on which he beats a rat a tat rat a tat somewhat like a gorilla beating its chest the cicada s drum is one of the most complicated inventions of mother nature its sounding board is a tympanum set on the abdomen the beating is done by a vibrating muscle only the male cicada can make this drumming sound the female has no love call but she has in stead a radio receiving set inside her head and this she tunes to the sensitivity necessary to pick up the love call of her mate the male actually has two drums fastened to his abdomen and to each of them is attached a strong muscle which the insect can tighten at will each drum is a piece of thin membrane free at one edge and by rapid vibration of them a sound is produced that has been likened to drumming on a tin pan the 17 year locust enjoys only six weeks of open air life and then dies of old age there are about 30 distinct I 1 broods of the 17 year locust in the united states appearing in dif ferent years |