Concerned citizens call South Carolina police over noisy cicadas
Police of Newberry County, South Carolina, received numerous calls from concerned citizens who heard noises compared to “a siren, or a whine, or a roar.” There was no real threat afoot. Residents heard sounds of emerging cicadas.
“We have had several calls about a noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a whine, or a roar. The sound is cicadas,” the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook statement. “Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets. Unfortunately it is the sounds of nature.”
After 13 to 17 years beneath the ground, these cicadas are hatching and getting busy. The male cicadas “sing” to attract a mate, per The Associated Press. Once they lay their eggs, the cicadas will quiet down.
This spring, in the U.S., trillions of red-eyed periodical cicadas will emerge simultaneously from two different broods: Brood XIX, known as the Great Southern Brood, and Brood XIII, or the Northern Illinois Brood, per The New York Times.
The brood’s simultaneous emergence is significant because their cycles don’t typically link up. The last time these broods emerged during the same year was in 1803, per CNN. And it won’t happen again until 2245.
Cicadas are not harmful to humans, but they do make a lot of noise.
What do cicadas sound like?
The sounds these insects make could be compared to squawking, high-pitched ringing, buzzing, whining and sing-song. These are all fair comparisons, as the insects make a broad spectrum of noises.
Cicadas also get really loud.
“When they say it’s as loud as a lawn mower, it is as loud as a lawn mower,” said Paula Shrewsbury, a professor in the department of entomology at the University of Maryland, per CNN.
“We live near an airport, and when the planes are flying over … cicadas crank up their sound level, it’s like they’re competing with the airplanes for sound,” Shrewsbury added.
These insects really can get as loud as a jet — scientists who study them often wear earmuffs to protect their hearing from the noise, per CNN.
Provided below is a video depicting sounds made by cicadas.
