Female Magicicada cicadas do not sing, but they do make a sound by flicking their wings. These percussive wing flicks get the attention of male cicadas and it compels them to sing their court songs in response.
Here’s a video of a female cicada flicking her wings:
A video of a group of female cicadas flicking their wings in a tree:
You can fool male cicadas into thinking a finger snap is a wing flick. Here’s a video of a male cicada calling in response to fake wing flicks:
One reply on “Magicicada wing flicks”
Do annual cicadas do this as well? (Talking about Neotibicen and Megatibicen specifically)