Study
Periodical Cicada: Sound Production and Hearing
Simmons, James A.; Wever, Ernest G.; Pylka, John M.
Science, 1971
Sound output and auditory sensitivity were measured in periodical cicadas, recording electrical responses from the hearing organ across frequencies and relating them to the frequency content of the species' own song.
- Studied in
- Magicicada
- Sample size
- electrophysiological recordings from cicada auditory organs
Hearing is sharply tuned to the frequency band of the species' own song. Sensitivity outside that band falls away steeply. Males were found to reduce the sensitivity of their own hearing organs while singing, which protects them from the intensity of their own output.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Cicada hearing is narrowly matched to conspecific song, and males protect their own ears during singing.
How NatureHQ reads it
The self-protection detail is the memorable one and it is genuinely functional: an animal producing a sound this loud a few millimetres from its own hearing organ has a problem, and it solves it by turning itself down while it sings. The narrow tuning matters for a different reason — it means a chorus of one species is close to inaudible to another, which is part of how several cicada species sing over each other in the same wood without interfering.
- Older electrophysiology; absolute threshold values should be read with caution.
- Tuning was measured in a small number of animals.
- Behavioural responses to song were not measured alongside the physiology.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of SciencePublished in Science or Science Advances (AAAS).
doi.org/10.1126/science.171.3967.212
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-11.