With all due deference….
I think it much more likely that it was
just a common field cricket (a European import) which are common in Canberra and are particularly
vocal after rain. Mole crickets are all together more interesting and much less
common.
Further, Cicadas cannot be in chrysalis form
as they change directly from nymphal stage to adult form after emerging from
their underground nymphal feeding stage. (Only butterflies really form a
chrysalis; even moths develop into a pupa rather than a chrysalis.)
John, unlike crickets, cicadas have
specialised “drums” on the underside of their abdomens to produce
their characteristic sound.
There would, I’m sure, be lots of
information on the web about crickets and cicadas and how they generate their
sounds.
Best,
Harvey
Harvey Perkins
CRC Programme
ph (02) 6240 7103 fax (02) 6123 5525
-----Original
Message-----
From: shaun bagley
[
Sent: Sunday,
30 April 2006 18:42
To: John Leonard; Canberra Birds
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds]
cicada secrets
With all due deference, to use that
obsequious legal phrase, think that what you experienced were Mole Crickets.
Also called in my backyard after rain. Cicadas cannot make noise in ground
since they are in chyrsalis form in which they climb out of the earth to
deafen us in the warmer months...after they have split the cases that
prevent them making any sound.
