Loud insects in trees at night AND a black widow query. (Spring: house, neighborhood)

[FreeAsABirdNow]

When we first moved here last month, hubby and I actually thought they were birds their song is so loud. I know they are not cicadas as we had those up north.
Any ideas? They've got to be pretty sizable to be as loud as they are. They sound super cool.
I'm going to pick up a book that details all the local flora and fauna because I'm constantly wondering what things are.

Also, we found a female black widow (and a dead male lol) in our garage a few days ago. Does that mean it's likely we have more? I'd leave them alone, except we have little kids and a puppy.

ETA: I did not locate an egg sac anywhere when I cleaned up the web. Of course, she may have hidden it well or not laid one yet.

[TexasHorseLady]

The loud bugs are cicadas, or at least that's what we call them here (don't know the Latin name for the particular bug we have as opposed to the bug you had up North). You get where you can't sleep for a while if you move to someplace that doesn't have them.

We've found black widows, mainly around our storm shelter. Never have been bothered by them, but I'd assume if you have one (or in your case, two, especially), there will be more around.

[Sarah84]

Though I'm not familiar with the habits of black widows, I'd assume like any other spider they're good at hiding their sacs, and that there will be more. Up here in Minnesota, even though we don't have poisonous ones, we do get ones that bite and we generally fog once or twice a year (they have some "pet safe" ones that I worry a little less about), and then we spray around the perimeter of the house with some home defense.

[zach5150]

The bugs you are hearing may be katydids. A guy in my neighborhood wrote a blog entry about it:

Pinwire.com » It

[twange]

I think Zach above is correct: katydids. Check this out:

Recognizing crickets, katydids, and cicadas

[seyareno]

The Black Widow usually will kill the male after mating so they may have just completed the deed and that is why he was dead. If that's the case you may have found her before she made the egg sac.

[capcat]

Another possibility is the sound of tree frogs. Their evening chorus was amazing just a while back. I don't know if it's still the season.
These sound clips are too brief to tell, but maybe do a search for a longer recording...
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/texas_nature_trackers/amphibian_watch/amphibian_species/ (broken link)

[G Grasshopper]

Concerning the black widow, we have seen them in our woodpile and outside, sheltered areas from time to time. We have killed some that were in places we would frequent, but we have never felt the need to spray or take any chemical measures to kill them wholesale, even though we have raised a family here. Kids should learn that when you get wood from the woodpile, you put on gloves. Same with reaching into any small, sheltered area (under flower pots, in the back corners or undersides of seldom used shelves in the garage or outside, etc.) Even young kids can learn to identify places that would seem likely. They should also learn to identify the web of a black widow, which is completely disorganized and "messy" and fairly dense, unlike the neater, more orderly webs of many other spiders. And they can use the "when in doubt, shout it out" method, where they come to get an adult if they spot a spider that should be identified. My personal philosophy is that it is better to teach kids how to be safe in their environment rather than killing all that may harm them.

[FreeAsABirdNow]

Thanks so much for all the input!

I was excited that the sound could be katydids, but it's not. Not cicadas, either. They both have a build-up and wind-down to their song and the songs are long.
I'm thinking it's some kind of tree frog. I was just out listening as they started up around 9:00 and the song is 1-2 seconds long and loud. I'll figure it out eventually (not all those frog song would play for me haha), but for now it's really nice just to sit out on the patio and listen to them.

I've been teaching the kids to just leave spiders and snakes alone, but having them tell me when they find one is really wise. I'll make sure to do that. I would prefer not to be spraying or anything else that's going to be harmful to a lot of creatures (including people) and cost a bunch of money every few months. I will probably never enter this or any garage again without looking for them, but better to be aware of my surroundings I suppose.


Thanks again!

[twange]

Originally Posted by capcat

Another possibility is the sound of tree frogs. Their evening chorus was amazing just a while back. I don't know if it's still the season.
These sound clips are too brief to tell, but maybe do a search for a longer recording...
TPWD: Frogs and Toads Found in Texas (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/texas_nature_trackers/amphibian_watch/amphibian_species/ - broken link)

That's a great link, thanks!

We always called treefrogs "peepers", now I see that is specific to chorus frogs...

Spring peepers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Gzji9Brow