Northern NSW residents take to social media as cicada song rings out across region - seemingly louder than ever

Residents in the state’s north are wearing earplugs and removing hearing aids for a reprieve from the incessant song of the cicada, with some speculating the insects are particularly raucous this year.

A cicada coming out of its shell on a farm near Kyogle. Residents have been questioning whether the insects are particularly loud this year. Picture: Venessa Kook

There’s more than 200 species of cicada in Australia – and with some singing in excess of 120 decibels, it’s no wonder Northern Rivers residents are curious about the racket.

Residents across the region have taken to Facebook, questioning whether the insects have been particularly loud recently

“My ears were bleeding” Paul Shields joked on a popular Facebook post.

“Kyogle is waking up at 6am and Googling ‘how to murder cicadas’.”

Southern Cross University Professor Nigel Andrew, an entomologist, said the insects emerge in Spring and tuck into plentiful resources, like plant sap, to fuel a relatively short but intense reproductive phase.

Cicadas conceal themselves underground for several years before surfacing and mating.

“Most of the adults will be gone by mid-February,” Prof Andrew said.

“But a few solitary males might stick around until April if the conditions stay good.”

Cicadas have been causing a ruckus in northern NSW. Picture: Toni Carter

Kyogle resident Venessa Kook said cicadas in the area have been “deafening” – but she has become used to it.

“It’s like it every time they come out of the ground and do their thing,” she wrote.

“It’s just part of nature … you either complain about it or just accept it’s going to be noisy for a while.”

Ms Kook said the noise showed the environment was thriving.

“We were very lucky to have seen the cicadas coming out of their shells, not many people have seen it,” she said of a video she shared.

Faerellen Fortune from Cawongla, near Kyogle, said she has lived on rural properties her whole life and never heard cicadas sing so loudly.

“They’ve been going for the past couple of months in Cawongla now,” she said.

“They start around 4am and go until about 9pm.

“Before the school holidays started, they stopped the kids playing in the schoolyard at lunchtime because the noise is too loud and potentially damaging to their little ear drums.”

A cicada coming out of its shell on a farm near Kyogle in a photo by Venessa Kook. Picture: Venessa Kook

Residents have measured noise levels of local insects between 80-100db - an Airbus A321 airliner produces roughly 140 dB outside engines at takeoff.

“Ours (cicadas) have reached painful levels,” resident Anthony Edwards posted.

“I’ve been walking around outside with earplugs in.”

Christine Casson said being able to take out her hearing aids “has its advantages”.

While research is ongoing, it’s thought the song is produced by an organ called the tymbal, similar to miniature drumskins, and air sacs that amplify sound.

“The tymbal muscle rapidly contracts and relaxes, causing the tymbal to buckle inwards and outwards several hundred times per second which blends together to our ears, creating a continuous buzzing or chirping sound,” Prof Andrew said.

He said many common names for cicadas globally were coined by children.

“Their imaginative minds and playing with the cicadas coined descriptive common names,” he said.

Meanwhile, David Trood from the Weedy Garden showcased a black prince cicada on his northern NSW property.

Cicadas often found in northern NSW - usually creatively named - include the black prince, floury baker, razor grinder, green grocer, white drummer, bladder cicada, small bottle cicada, red tree ticker and yellowbelly.