Book 4, Question 131
Why Do Night Insects Sound Like a Band?
Crickets, katydids, and some frogs all clock in as night singers. Each species has its own instrument and its own pattern and tempo. So the woods sound like a messy, wonderful orchestra.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 4
More fun facts
- Insect ears evolved many separate times, so they show up in all kinds of places on insects' bodies.
- One kind of katydid has ears on its front legs, just below the knees.
- Those katydid ears work a lot like ours, with their own versions of eardrums and tiny hearing bones.
- Katydids use loud, high-pitched songs that travel up into the treetops to reach listening females.
- Many insect sounds are so high that people overlooked them for a long time.
- Scientists studied 20 fossils and recreated the song of a Jurassic insect that lived 165 million years ago. It sounded a lot like a cricket.
Sources: Scientific American, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine
Questions kids ask
Where are a katydid's ears?
On its front legs, just below the knees.