This is Illinois extension’s voice of the wild. There are 6 common species of annual cicada that sing in Illinois. This video can be used to identify them by the male’s song. First I’ll give the name of the species, then any relevant facts that might help with identification, then the song. Unless noted otherwise, each species sings throughout the day and can be found throughout the state. Neotibicen pruinosus, the scissor grinder cicada is one of the most common annual cicadas in the midwest. Their song is slow, only one or two pulses per second. Neotibicin canicularis, the northern dog-day cicada is a northern species and is generally only found in illinois in the upper third of the state. Their song is very high in pitch. Neotibicen tibicen, the Morning or swamp cicada tends to call only before noon. They have a brief song, about ten seconds, that crescendos strongly in the middle. Neotibicen linnei, Linne’s cicada sounds similar but is longer and has a more wavering crescendo said to sound akin to a salt-shaker. Neotibicen lyricen, the Lyric cicada. is notable for a song that does not pulsate. Megatibicen pronotalis, Walker’s annual cicada is a large cicada and they have slower pulsations which alternate with periods of buzzing. If the cicada you are hearing is not one of these common species, head over to SongsofInsects.com and see if you can find the species you’re looking for; you can find a link to that website in the description. Thank you to Wil Hershberger for letting us use his recordings to assemble this key. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW