Cicada Hunt Is Like Shazam for Insect Sounds

Every camping trip comes with at least one unexpected bug encounter. A new app called Cicada Hunt identifies your new eight- or sixteen-legged friends by the sounds they make.

Cicada Hunt works similar to music-identifying app Shazam. When you hear a bug nearby, the app listens for a short period of time and detects the particular species based on the sound it makes.

The app was specifically designed to be used in the New Forest in Southampton, UK to identify the Cicadetta montana, an endangered cicada species in the forest. If the park’s millions of annual visitors use this app, researchers will be able to create a heat map of the insects' spread in the area. Read more...