This katydid was spotted in the South Okanagan in August.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Jodi Forster
August 27, 2025 - 4:00 AM
The summer evenings in the Thompson-Okanagan region are filled with the sounds of insects rubbing legs and wings together to attract mates.
The tiny violinists are katydids, grasshoppers and crickets and are most active at night in the warmer months.
Katydids are nocturnal insects related to crickets and known for their mating calls they make by running their forewings together. There are numerous species of katydids living in BC and each have a unique song that is further broken into different songs they make for reproductive, territorial or defensive purposes. The insects come in all different sizes and colours, however most species are bright green including the one in this photo collection found in the South Okanagan this summer.
This Mormon cricket was spotted in the North Okanagan this summer.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Flora Davidson
Despite its name, the Mormon cricket is a species of katydid called a ‘cricket’ after the cricket-like chirping sounds the males make, according to The Insect Guide. The insects are unable to fly but have thick hind legs for jumping.
Native to western North America, this insect is known for its huge migratory swarms that destroy vegetation. Its name originates in the 1800s where swarms of them ate Mormon settler’s crops in Utah.
One of the most common nighttime noise makers are crickets that make chirping sounds when the males rub their wings together to attract females.
Males make music by rubbing a scraper on one forewing against a row of teeth on the other and their most common songs are for courtship or fighting, according to Britannica. Most active during the summer months, the chirping can be heard from late afternoon and into the night, especially on warm, humid evenings. The warmer the temperature, the higher the rate of chirps.
A South Okanagan photographer captured a photo of tree cricket in late June. The song of most tree crickets is a long trill.
A tree cricket perches on a flower in the South Okanagan in summer.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Trevor Reeves
Another insect active at night is the Jerusalem cricket that isn’t a cricket, rather it belongs to a group of flightless insects called stenopalmatidae. These insects don’t chirp but make a hissing noise when disturbed by rubbing their hind legs on the sides of their abdomen, according to What’s That Bug. They create mating calls at night by drumming their abdomen against the ground.
A Jerusalem cricket in Okanagan Falls was found under a rock in early summer.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Luka Bevanda
Another insect you might here buzzing and chirping at night during summer and early fall are cicadas. The males make loud noises by vibrating membranes at the base of the abdomen. Males produce three songs, one when the weather fluctuates, one for courtship and one when they are disturbed, according to Britannica. The males of most species of cicada in North America make rhythmical ticks and buzzes, while the females make clicking sounds with their wings in response.
If you have cool bug photos to share, send them to news@infonews.ca.
A cicada rests on a flower petals in the South Okanagan in summer.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Julie King
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