CICADAS are enjoying a very big year in 2024 with their incessant daytime cacophony kicking off before the kookaburras and fizzling out after the frogs set-up their night time croaks.

News Of The Area asked cicada expert Prof David Emery, what the song and dance is all about.

While this year was predicted to be huge for Green Grocers around Sydney, it was not anticipated to be at plague proportions statewide for so many species.

It is thought that the good winter rainfall followed by a warmer than usual Spring (3C above average), has coaxed a prolific number of cicadas to emerge; small (and pretty quiet) as well as large (and loud).

Researchers are still working to identify the factors involved in these phenomena.

This season, they have also commenced their emergences around three weeks earlier than usual; so temperature is a likely factor.

Naturally, with one to seven-odd years spent underground, and less than a month to find a mate to ensure one’s genes show up in the next generation, males are calling prodigiously to attract females.

Each species has a specific song recognised by the relevant ladies; in the larger species, females fly to the calling males.

Several studies show noise matters, with louder males more likely to attract females, so it’s no wonder that ‘less sound endowed’ males fly and congregate near noisy ones to increase their chances (like in night clubs), so we have these huge populations in selective trees.

And the populations shift about during the day.

The larger ones do not all call together or we have chaos.

There is a bit of a timetable to the daily orchestra; Razor Grinders and Red-eyes rev up early at dawn on warm days and sing intermittently for most of the day.

They are joined by Green Grocers, Cherrynoses, Black Princes and Double Drummers by around 10am to mid-afternoon, before Green Grocer and Bladder cicadas call at dusk and Razor Grinders complete their evening cadence.

Smaller ones are quieter and not noticed so readily, but there are plenty about.

Recordings or photos of any cicadas are encouraged to be posted on websites such as The Great Cicada Blitz or iNaturalist.

This enables scientists to use such a valuable resource to assess population size, distribution, emergence times and also identify new cicadas for descriptions and placement in museums.

The local orchestra is still being joined by emerging cicadas and will be intrusive on our peace and midday kips until mid-January, said Prof. Emery.

If you are starting off, there is a guide to the species and their songs at cicadarama.square.site/cicada-book.

By Andrea FERRARI