The hottest part of the year is upon us, August and September can be brutal temperature wise. It was mid-morning and I was out sweating and taking pictures and yet I was calm and happy when the reason for such struck me, there was a loud buzzing accompanying me as I worked - the cicadas were singing.

I have always associated the loud sound of cicadas in the woods with the lazy days of summer. The sound transports me to the days of lawn chairs set on the breezeway or under a tree while a breeze - cool or not - blew in from the ocean. As teenagers it was comic books and gossiping with friends; as a young adult heaver and lighter chick lit books were my choice of entertainment, but when it's too hot to be working a break in those chairs with the cicadas singing was always welcome and often lured me into a sweaty nap.

Cicadas are interesting insects. They spend most of their lives underground as juveniles emerging only in the last phase of their lives to molt into an adult, mate, lay eggs and die. The whole adult phase only takes a few weeks.

Here in Florida, we do not have the periodic cicadas which are the ones which hatch on a predictable schedule - a 13 or 17 year life cycle. But there are 19 species of these insects which call this state home. They all have a life cycle which is several years long, however each year there are some cicadas which mature, emerge and serenade us.

Most of the species lay their eggs in living or dead branch tips in late summer and fall. The eggs may hatch in the same year or next spring. When the small ant-like nymph hatches, it falls to the ground and burrows. The immature cicadas feed on the watery xylem of roots but the damage is usually insignificant. They will molt four times over a period of about four to ten years depending on species. A fifth molt is needed for the cicada to emerge as an adult. This molt is done above ground and the cast of skins are commonly seen on trees and shrubs.

Cicadas are not usually considered damaging insects to Florida gardens and landscapes. Their root feeding is of no consequence and the adults consume small amounts of plant material. The main interest of adults is mating. In most species, it is the male which "sings." He produces his call with a pair of drum-like organs on either side of the abdomen known as timbals which are a complex arrangement of cuticle, stiff rib-like structures, plates and air sacks. These songs vary by species and attract females of the same species. If you would like to here cicada songs, check out Species of cicadas commonly heard in northern Florida by T. J. Walker at entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/c700... or the Cicada Link Directory of Cicada Mania at www.cicadamania.com/cicadalinks.html, look for the sites with the word AUDIO highlighted in yellow at the end of the link.

The song of cicadas transports me to a simpler time when few houses were air conditioned and summers were long, hot and lazy. If I listen closely, I can hear them today calling me outside to play.