Cicada summer chorus

Lyristes plebejus, Cicada orni, Tibicina spp.. Centre, South, islands, Italy.

Best time: 1 Jul – 25 Aug (July to August). Where: Pineta di Marina di Alberese, Maremma, Salento olive groves, Puglia, Riserva dello Zingaro, Sicily (Italy). Time of day: Cicadas start once the sun is on the trees (about 09:30), reach full wall-of-sound from 11:00 to 17:00 and fade with the heat.

• You can go on your own
• Low cost
• No binoculars needed
• Sound 5/5

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

When is the best time?

Peak: 1 Jul – 25 Aug. July–August

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

Time of day

Cicadas start once the sun is on the trees (about 09:30), reach full wall-of-sound from 11:00 to 17:00 and fade with the heat; Lyristes carries on into dusk.

• Peak chorus: 11:00 → 17:00

What will you hear?

Wall-of-sound cicada chorus in pinewoods and olive groves, with pulsing, overlapping rhythms of different species.

Binoculars?

No binoculars needed. Wall of sound at every tree; nothing to look through.

Where to go

• Pineta di Marina di Alberese, Maremma — Umbrella pine groves; beach tourists on the seaward side, quiet inland. Map
• Salento olive groves, Puglia — Ancient olives; Xylella has thinned some groves. Map
• Riserva dello Zingaro, Sicily — Mediterranean macchia on sea cliffs; no vehicles inside the reserve. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Marina di Alberese: the park road from Alberese ends at a paid summer car park by the pineta — arrive before the beach fills. Salento: any olive-grove lane. Zingaro: entry ticket at the Scopello or San Vito gates, open 07:00–19:00, no vehicles inside — walk the coast path.

Cost: Free in the olive groves; Riserva dello Zingaro €5 adult / €3 reduced (2025 decree); Marina di Alberese summer parking (check current prices).

Field-recording notes

Extremely loud and HF-heavy — pad the input and forget about self-noise. Lyristes plebejus can exceed 100 dB at a metre. Pinewood beach sites carry tourist noise; go inland or arrive before the beach fills.

Sources

• xeno-canto – Cicada orni

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Late-summer bush-cricket & grasshopper chorusUnited Kingdom · Insects · peak 1 Aug–31 AugLoud sewing-machine buzz of great green bush-crickets from coastal scrub; ticking of dark bush-crickets; the electric drone of Roesel's in rough grassland.

More: all spectacles in Italy · cicadas · cicadas, crickets and fireflies · Italy in July · Italy in August