University of Southampton researchers have developed a smartphone app designed to help in the search for a rare cicada found only in the New Forest National Park. “Modern smartphones have extremely sensitive microphones and enough computing power to automatically detect and recognize the song of the New Forest cicada,” says Southampton’s Alex Rogers. “We’re hoping that the millions of visitors to the New Forest can use their smartphones to help us locate any remaining colonies of the cicada that might remain in the forest.” The app, which is available for both iPhone and Android smartphones, records a 30-second survey using the smartphone’s microphone and looks for the particular frequencies and sound patterns that characterize the cicada’s song. If the app thinks a cicada might have been heard, it prompts the user to upload the recording, so that it can be analyzed in more detail. “We’ll be able to use the reports from the app to compile a map of areas that have already been searched, in order to focus the efforts of the professional entomologists who are also looking for the cicada,” says Southampton’s Davide Zilli.