A single male cicada can make a noise over 100 decibels

A single male cicada can make a noise over 100 decibels, according to Debbie Hadley in an About.com article. Interesting side note: you can make them scream!
 
“In addition to its mating and courtship calls, the male cicada makes noise when startled. Pick up a male cicada, and you'll probably hear a good example of the cicada shriek,” writes Hadley.

To put 100 decibels in context, the following examples are from Yahoo Answers. Eighty decibels is equivalent to heavy traffic, a vacuum cleaner or a heavy truck. Ninety decibels is equivalent to a pneumatic drill or a shouted conversation and 100 decibels is equivalent to a chain saw, jackhammer, or a speeding train.

There may be cause to balk at some of these illustrations, but let’s just have one more example to add to the cicada call din. From Georgia to Connecticut, the cacophony will be as loud as a rock concert.


stillness
piercing the rocks
cicada's shrill
- Basho