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Quoting Barry Alpert <[log in to unmask]>: > Max, it was indeed the exotic place names which initially intrigued me. Then > the rhyme > with the cicadas which plague this area every 13 to 17 years, the last major > manifestation being 2004. Gourmets were making snacks out of them. > > I note that there are Australian cicadas and wonder about how they differ > from the > locusts you describe. > > Barry Ah, Barry, I've often meant to find out, especially as the annual cicada summer racket starts up hereabouts. Googling I find this, though locusts are not mentioned - unrelated, smaller, swarm-behaviour, comes to mind - whereas cicadas stick around almost invisible but loud. best from Max (I note the expert - quoted on ABC Science Online - is one Dr Max Moulds) Australian cities are some of the very few in the world to experience the loud singing of cicada song right in the middle of suburbia. This is because the Green Grocer is unusual in its ability to adapt perfectly to the urbanised environment according to Australia's foremost expert on the cicada, Dr Max Moulds from the Australian Museum in Sydney. "When people come here from Europe and America they are amazed - they have never heard anything like it before," Dr Moulds said. "Because the Green Grocer has adapted to cities like Sydney and Melbourne, and because they are so loud and obvious, cicada song gives our cities a summertime buzz distinct from most other cities around the world." ------------------------------------------------------------ This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au