THE SONG OF THE CIGALE Where I live I can capture five species of Cigale, the two principal species being the common Cigale and the variety which lives on the flowering ash.

Both of these are widely distributed and are the only species known to the country folk.

The larger of the two is the common Cigale.

Let me briefly describe the mechanism with which it produces its familiar note.
On the under side of the body of the male, immediately behind the posterior limbs, are two wide semicircular plates which slightly overlap one another, the right hand lying over the left hand plate.

These are the shutters, the lids, the dampers of the musical-box.