Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

If I remember correctly, cicadas used to be quite a bit more common in the Auckland Summer Months. Yep they changed from year to year and occasionally almost completely quiet, but that was rare, to be frank.  In Christchurch they’ve been a lot less noisy – especially the past 4 years or so. But early 2026 it started with a few choruses and now the “clappers” are also occupying the sound-scape.    Male cicadas have so-called Timpany, which are little drum cavities on the underside of the bellies. They look a little bit like bent and shaped flaps.  The timpany are really good at amplifying the sounds they make to lure females closer and closer – Party time!  Females are known to aim for the noisiest male on the block. Egg-laying is happening from now on, at this time of the year.  When the female has a good number of fertilised eggs to get rid of, she climbs into a suitable host tree. Her Ovipositor is a pretty useful tool to lay eggs inside the wood of a branch; a dozen or two ar