STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Next, we have the sounds of insects you rarely zap. That includes the sound you often hear when you fall silent - crickets.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRICKETS)
INSKEEP: Keep listening as these crickets hit a high note.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRICKETS)
INSKEEP: For a more distinctive sound of summer, consider this.
(SOUNDBITE OF TREE HOPPERS)
INSKEEP: That is a chorus of thousands of tiny insects called tree hoppers. Rex Cocroft (ph) recorded them in his backyard in rural Virginia.
(SOUNDBITE OF TREE HOPPERS)
INSKEEP: The tree hoppers are vibrating out messages to other insects. And tomorrow morning, we will eavesdrop on their conversations in our series Close Listening. In the meantime, let's hear from you. Grab that recorder or smartphone. Go outside, record a minute or two of a sound you cannot identify, and send that file to nprcrowdsource@npr.org with the subject line, Decode Nature, and your location. Let us solve your mystery. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.