The mating songs of insects may sound different depending what time of year it is. Different insects thrive at different times of year. However, during the late summer months, all singing insects can be heard producing their mating songs simultaneously. This means that late summer and early fall are the noisiest times of year when it comes to the mating calls of insects. All orders of Orthoptera, as well as grasshoppers, can be heard singing at the same time during this time of year. The singing insects are all males, and they are frantically attempting to woo females into one last mating session before the frost hits. According to Daniel Howard, a biology professor at the University of New Hampshire, and an expert in insect communication, sex is the only reason why we hear a multitude of different insect songs during the late summer months. Insects, such as katydids and crickets, have been relying on mating songs in order to survive for the past two hundred million years. So how do singing insects discriminate between the sounds produced by different singing insects? Can a cricket ever mistake a katydid song with a cricket song?
Different singing insects seem to cooperate with each other naturally by only singing at particular times of day. For singing insects, the acoustic environment is necessary for survival. The acoustic environment is a resource that is partitioned in a manner that allows all singing insects to be heard. In addition to that, different insects sing at different tones and pitches. During the late night and early morning hours the soundscape is dominated by tree crickets. From noon until around late afternoon meadow katydids can be heard singing their songs. Some katydids are nocturnal, and do not create mating calls at night. There are many different species of katydids, and each one produces sounds at a particular frequency. Some katydid species produce such high-frequency sounds that not even bats can hear them. Grasshoppers also sing during daylight hours, but their songs are not as loud as other insect songs. Crickets and katydids are the noisiest types of insects when considering what humans are able to hear.
Do you enjoy the sound of several different insects singing simultaneously?