While some people call them "locusts", cicadas are definitely not locusts. Locusts are a kind of grasshopper. In fact, I often wonder when and why people became confused about them. Well, we have cicadas in the Philippines just like almost every other place with a temperate or tropical climate — you won't find them in cold climates like Alaska or Norway (at least I don't think so).

Cicadas in the US

I grew up listening to cicadas that inhabited the elm trees on my parents' property in Arizona. It was a yearly cycle, but I can't remember what month the noise started and what month the noise ended. The elm trees have long since been replaced by other trees and the noise no longer comes from their yards.

When I was young, we had cats in our back yard. I don't remember why, but we had quite a few that just lived there. I think the mother and grandmother of all them was the only cat that was an actual pet. Anyway, when the cicadas would land near the light at the back door, a lot of the cats would scramble up the side of the wall to snatch and eat the cicadas that landed there. Munchy, munchy, crunchy!

My family wasn't poor, but we weren't very well off either. Our family was just too large. We couldn't afford expensive toys like gas-powered airplanes. We had to make due with what was available. I and some of my brothers would tie strings around cicadas and treat them like the gas-powered airplanes while spinning in a circle. It was incredible, but the cicadas would fly and buzz and do exactly what we expected them to do.

Cicadas in the Philippines

I honestly didn't know they were here in the Philippines until after I moved here in 2006. I first heard the cicada songs while inspecting my house as it was being built. I don't know which trees they were hanging out in and I wasn't inclined to investigate any further.

Since that time, one of my wife's cousins has captured a few that have flown in near my mother-in-law's front door, where the overhead light is. He (Julius) didn't know what they were called in English. When talking about cicadas, most Filipinos call them ipis, which is Tagalog for cockroach. These are not cockroaches! Cockroaches, or just roaches, are the nastiest creatures alive that I can think of. Well, Julius had fun messing with the cicadas and causing them to reproduce the cicada songs somehow.

Cicadas Elsewhere

Cicadas have been around for centuries. In some places, they're eaten (like locusts in that regard) as a delicacy with the female being preferred as "meatier". In Australia, there are around 220 species to contend with. I don't know which species we have in the Philippines, but they look different (with a green underbelly) than the ones I've seen in the US.

Cicadas have predatory enemies such as the cicada killer wasp (which I haven't seen) and the praying mantis (something I've see a LOT of). The biggest enemies in the Philippines, as near as I can tell, are the birds that feed on them. I don't know which birds are which, but they're small (like sparrows). I've seen them snatching and munching on cicadas from my upstairs window — I have a pretty good view of a nearby tree. The only thing I don't like about the birds is when they perch at my window and chirp like there's no tomorrow while I'm trying to sleep. I really don't care what they eat as long as they do it elsewhere.

Why am I bothering to mention cicadas right now? Well, they're buzzing from the tree next door and it's irritating. My windows are closed and I can still hear them. The birds are having a field day, but I don't think they're making much of an impact on the cicada population.

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