This cicada kept moving to the other side of a twig where I couldn't photograph him, so I eventually coaxed him onto my finger where he sat seemingly content for quite awhile. The 'song' of the cicada is surely the most familiar sound of summer. There are many species of cicada but our most familiar and most common is this one. I think they are extraordinary insects and really enjoy hearing and seeing them. One of the most amazing things to me, is how they make their song. The male (and only the males sing) has a drum-like skin or membrane in the abdomen called a tymbal. He can vibrate this membrane to create his song and the song is amplified because there is a hollow air-chamber in the abdomen, filled with air, which helps magnify the sound many times. Ingenious eh?