Are Seoul Cicadas getting louder? 

There is only one species of cicada in Britain – The New Forest Cicada – but no one can find it because it sings too quietly. Ahh. 

That is definitely not the case in Seoul where the aptly named ROBUST Cicadas challenge anyone to walk under the trees they own in the summer without the latest in high tech ear protection.

Actually, the mysteriously raucous buzzing chorus of cicadas has always been exotic to me. And so this morning I was pleased when we were joined by a solitary cicada who had managed to fly all the way up to the mosquito net on our apartment window.

BUT then began a sound that I can only describe as excruciating.

It’s incredible how ONE cicada can make so much noise! He starts his mating call and then stops and just when you think he’s finished, he starts up again. And in between you can hear the cicadas in the trees below.

 

Doesn’t he sound more like he’s disturbed or experiencing some kind of break down? Maybe he was involved in a family dispute and was up here to get away from the argument but couldn’t resist screeching down to the others anyway.

It was ’only’ 31 degrees so I had the windows open before it gets too hot and I have to turn the aircon on. But I was tempted to close the window straight away. 

I’m sure it never used to be like this.

OK so cicadas aren’t pretty. I could only see the silhouette of this one’s underside clutching onto the net, and he was huge and crispy-looking with exceedingly veiny wings. But the sound of cicadas used to be cute.

Cicadas who live outside of Seoul sound different.

When we go to the countryside, the cicadas have a softer cry, more gentle. In the city they are angry, short-tempered, aggressive. That’s what it seems like anyway.

The name for Cidada in Korean is maemi 매미 (pronounced mem-ee) because it supposedly makes the sound mem-mem-mem-mem.

 Do cicadas sound different in different parts of the country?

Apparently cicadas have regional dialects and there are 12 different types living in Korea! this article, (Korean) tells us about two main types of cicada the robust cicada (cham-maemi 참매미) and the blockish cicada (mal-mae-mi 말매미).

One of the main differences between the two types of cicada is that they start singing at different temperatures.

The cham maemi starts his mem-mem-mem when the temperature is at a pleasant 23 degrees. But the mal memi won’t bother until temperatures rise to 27 degrees. So in the city in summer we could expect to hear him around 8 am. But with city temperatures rising, the cicadas are starting their cry earlier and earlier in the day!

Are cicadas getting louder? 

YES.

According to this Korean article in the Joongang Daily, the Urban Heat Island effect is causing the number of cicadas to increase. So they ARE getting louder because there are more of them. And they are hanging out in the city especially in areas with huge apartment complexes where temperatures are rising due to the dense population. The cicadas themselves are different too in more highly densely populated areas. They are longer and they can reproduce more. 

Why are cicadas louder in the city? 

According to the experts it’s because the sound reflects off the buildings and concrete and glass. But in the countryside the sound can disperse across open land. 

OK so there are more and more cicadas together so they make more noise as a group – that makes sense.

But why are individual cicadas louder than before?

I couldn’t find that answer. Is it because of the competition from the other male cicadas? Do they have to make a louder sound to be heard over each other? Or are they getting louder and more impatient because living in highly populated areas is starting to stress them out too?