Cicadas of Ticino and the Valais rock steppes

Cicada orni, Lyristes plebejus, Cicadetta species; praying mantis, Oedipoda grasshoppers, bee-eaters in the Valais. Ticino (Mendrisiotto, Monte Caslano), Valais (Follatères, Pfynwald), Switzerland.

Best time: 5 Jul – 20 Aug (July to August). Where: Monte Caslano (Lake Lugano), Follatères (Fully–Branson, Valais), Pfynwald / Pfyn-Finges nature park (Sierre–Leuk) (Switzerland). Time of day: Cicadas from about 10:00 once the slopes warm, best 10:30–13:00 before the Valais wind rises.

• You can go on your own
• Free
• No binoculars needed
• Sound 4/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 5 Jul – 20 Aug. July to 20 August

Active from 15 Jun to 10 Sep (June to September) in a typical year.

Time of day

Cicadas from about 10:00 once the slopes warm, best 10:30–13:00 before the Valais wind rises; Ticino continues to 17:00.

• Valais window: 10:30 → 13:00
• Ticino chorus: 11:00 → 17:00

What will you hear?

Cicada 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.

Binoculars?

No binoculars needed. Cicadas in every chestnut and pine; nothing to look through.

Where to go

• Monte Caslano (Lake Lugano) — Sub-Mediterranean limestone hill; the densest cicada chorus in Switzerland. Map
• Follatères (Fully–Branson, Valais) — Rock steppe reserve on the Rhône bend; cicadas, mantis, bee-eaters; Pro Natura. Map
• Pfynwald / Pfyn-Finges nature park (Sierre–Leuk) — Largest pine forest in the Alps; cicadas and a braided Rhône; the A9 is being built through — check. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Monte Caslano: path from Caslano. Follatères: the trail from Branson (Fully), reserve trails only. Pfynwald: park at the Pfyn-Finges nature park entrances (Sierre or Leuk) and walk the marked paths.

Cost: Free.

Field-recording notes

Switzerland's cicadas are on the edge of their range, so the chorus is thinner than Croatia's — good for isolating individuals. Follatères and Pfynwald are flanked by the A9/Rhône valley traffic and the Valais wind rises every afternoon by 13:00: record between 10:30 and 13:00. Monte Caslano has boats on Lake Lugano but little else. Reserves (Follatères, Pfynwald core) are trails-only.

Sources

• Pro Natura Valais (Follatères reserve)
• Naturpark Pfyn-Finges

Similar spectacles

• 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.
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More: all spectacles in Switzerland · cicadas · cicadas, crickets and fireflies · July · August