Cicada's love song entered the US Navy's sights

US naval scientists want to explore the 'loud singing' ability of ticks to create useful applications.

>>>Billions of cicadas will "attack" the United States

The scientific community has long been interested in the magicicada cicadas in the east coast of the United States for a long time, because they are probably the longest "early childhood" group in the insect world. They need 13 to 17 years to mature. For most of life, Magicicada ticks live on the ground. When they reach adulthood, they crawl to the ground for several weeks to mate, reproduce and die. Cicadas' s "love" of males makes people unable to forget their brief presence on the ground.

A Magicicada cicada.(Photo: greatwinenews.com)

Cicadas' bodies are very small but their cries are very loud. Scientists claim that male cicadas' cries can reach 100 decibels. Male cicadas produce sound by vibrating two thin films in the outer skeleton. The membrane develops from the chest. When the veins expand strongly the ribs, thin films vibrate and create sound. The belly is empty so it can amplify the sound, creating a very loud cry. They shake their bodies and flutter their wings to rhythm the "songs".

Derke Hughes, a US naval researcher, said the cicada's thin film vibrated 300 to 400 times per second, Livescience reported.

"We already know how to make cicadas, but imitating them is a big challenge , " Hughes admitted.

Hughes's team is building a physical model to accurately describe the process of making the cry of the Magicicada cicada. That model can help experts find the secret to making a loud sound but only consume less energy. This trick will help them improve the quality of devices for detecting underwater objects, communicating between ships or rescuing at sea.