Song of the Broad-Winged Tree Cricket
Richard Rathe June 2016
One of the most relaxing sounds I’ve ever heard occurs late at night in the spring and summer, usually after the frogs settle down. After wondering about it for twenty years I finally know who’s singing… Broad-Winged Tree Crickets (Oecanthus latipennis)!
Take a listen to this phone recording. They sing one continuous note for several seconds. Individuals enter and leave the chorus at random intervals and slightly different frequencies. This is apparently due to slight variations in temperature. The effect is very soothing!
I recorded this in the early morning hours after a rainstorm. About half way through you can hear a freight train whistle in the distance.
Addendum 2020
Researchers have discovered that tree crickets gnaw holes in leaves to amplify their calls (referred to as baffling
).
…crickets with quieter voices or tiny bodies will fashion mini-megaphones out of leaves to amplify their calls…
(NY Times 2020)
There is a nice video of the behavior in Tree crickets optimize the acoustics of baffles to exaggerate their mate-attraction signal
(elifesciences.org 2008)