Cicadas

6 places to see and hear cicadas in the wild, in 6 countries from France to Spain: when each one peaks, where to go on your own, what it costs and what you will hear. Wild animals only, no zoos.

Best time, place by place

Where to go, north to south

• Cicadas of ProvenceFrance · Insects · peak 1 Jul–20 AugThe Provence cliché done properly: Lyristes' continuous saw at 100+ dB from the pines, Cicada orni's pulsing ticks from the oaks, and a shift of species with the hour and the tree.
• Cicadas of Ticino and the Valais rock steppesSwitzerland · Insects · peak 5 Jul–20 AugCicada orni ticking merging into a wall in the chestnut and oak woods, Lyristes pulsing from pines, grasshoppers on the steppe; in the Valais, bee-eaters and a föhn wind.
• Karst nights: scops owl, nightjar and cicadasSlovenia · Nocturnal · peak 20 May–10 JulScops owl's monotone 'tyuh' every 2–3 s from village edges, nightjar churring on the dry meadows, sub-Mediterranean bush-cricket wall of sound, cicadas at 90+ dB at midday in July, eagle owl from the Vipava cliffs in late winter.
• Cicada summer of the Adriatic coastCroatia · Insects · peak 1 Jul–15 AugContinuous Cicada orni ticking at 5–8 kHz merging into a shimmer, Lyristes plebejus's louder pulsing song from pines, cricket chorus at night, scops owl, sea.
• Cicada summer chorusItaly · Insects · peak 1 Jul–25 AugWall-of-sound cicada chorus in pinewoods and olive groves, with pulsing, overlapping rhythms of different species.
• Cicadas of the Spanish pinewoodsSpain · Insects · peak 1 Jul–20 AugContinuous cicada chorus from Aleppo and stone pines — Cicada orni's ticking pulses over Lyristes' saw — with the sea and, at dusk, bush-crickets taking over.

More: every animal and kind · what is on in October