The cicadas of Northern Cyprus: Why summer sings here

Anyone currently in Cyprus probably hears it every day.

It sounds loudest at midday. That's when the sun is high, the pine trees smell of resin, the air shimmers above the stones, and even the cats disappear somewhere in the shadows.

Suddenly it's there.

This bright, continuous, vibrating **Ziiiiiiii**.

It comes from the trees. From the pines, the olive groves, the gardens, the slopes above the sea. You can hear it in Alagadi, in Esentepe, in Bellapais, in Girne, on the beach, on the street, on terraces, in holiday complexes, and sometimes even through closed windows.

Many people who are in Cyprus for the first time in the summer eventually ask:

What is this, exactly?

The answer is small, inconspicuous, and astonishing: They are cicadas.

The sound of a Mediterranean summer

For many people, this sound is as much a part of the Mediterranean as salt on the skin, pine needles under the feet, and a cold coffee in the shade.

Some find it loud at first. Almost electric. As if a cable were singing somewhere. Others immediately hear it as a holiday. The south. Warmth. Midday stillness.

And perhaps this sound will change forever once we know what's behind it.

The cicada sings for a very old, very clear reason: its visible life has suddenly become very short.

Many cicadas spend most of their lives underground. As nymphs, they sit there in the dark, on roots, sucking plant sap and slowly growing. Depending on the species, this hidden life phase lasts several years. Only when the time is right do they emerge from the ground, climb onto a trunk, bark, or branch, and transform into the winged insects we see in summer. UC IPM , Amateur Entomologists' Society

Then their visible life begins.

And this life lasts only a few weeks.

Years in darkness, weeks in light

That's precisely what makes cicadas so touching.

They live for a long time in hiding. Silently. Underground. At the roots, in the darkness, in the slow rhythm of the trees. Then they come out, and suddenly everything is light, warmth, air, tree bark, wings, and song.

The mannasing cicada, *Cicada orni*, also known as the ash cicada, has a life cycle that European sources describe as lasting several years; a Portuguese biodiversity source indicates a total development time of approximately three years for this species. Adults typically appear in the Mediterranean region from June or July onwards and can remain active until early autumn, depending on the region. (Virtual Biodiversity Museum)

Several cicada species can be found in Cyprus. The Mannas cicada is one of the best-known and most common cicadas in the Mediterranean and describes this summer phenomenon very well. Scientific literature lists Cicada orni as one of the common Mediterranean species and also points out that the cicada fauna of Cyprus is diverse. PMC / Checklist of singing cicadas

The sound originates in the body.

What's fascinating is that cicadas produce their sound with their bodies.

The males possess special sound organs on their abdomen, called tymbals or drum organs. You can imagine them as a small, elastic membrane that is very quickly compressed and released. Muscle movements create clicks and vibrations that combine to produce this penetrating sound.

The abdomen acts like a resonating chamber.

Thus, a tiny insect can create a sound that can fill an entire hillside, garden, or bay. University of Connecticut Cicadas

Only the males sing. They use this to attract females. What sounds to us like an endless summer noise is, for the cicada, courtship, a sign of life, and perhaps also a competition with all the other males in the tree.

When many people sing at the same time, it creates this great tapestry of sound that lies over the Mediterranean summer.

Why they sound louder in the heat

You may have noticed that cicadas are particularly audible when it is hot.

Cicadas are heat-loving. Their activity, muscular function, and song are strongly dependent on temperature and sunlight. That's why they are so much a part of the hottest hours of the day.

On cooler, cloudy, or windy days, the landscape suddenly seems quieter. In the evenings, when the heat subsides, this intense hum often ceases. Then other sounds take over: the wind, the clinking of glasses in the restaurant, voices on terraces, the sea.

The day belongs to the cicadas.

The evening belongs to the people again.

Loud and harmless

Cicadas can be surprisingly loud. Some species are among the loudest insects in the world; sound levels of over 100 decibels have been recorded for certain cicadas, and for some even over 120 decibels at close range. Distance, direction, species, environment, and duration all make a significant difference. CSIRO

To humans, cicadas are primarily one thing: loud, conspicuous, and completely harmless.

They usually sit well camouflaged on trees and do what cicadas do in summer: sing, mate, lay eggs and then disappear.

Why this sound fits Northern Cyprus so well

Perhaps I love this sound so much because it tells a story about Northern Cyprus.

It is nature. Raw, warm, vibrant, sometimes overwhelming, and precisely for that reason, real.

Northern Cyprus has its own voice in summer. The heat has a voice. The pine trees have a voice. The soil, which has supported hidden life for years, suddenly releases something. And then you sit there, perhaps with a cold drink, perhaps after swimming, perhaps on the way from Girne to Esentepe, and hear this humming.

The first time you spend summer on the island, you almost automatically ask yourself: What is this?

Once you're familiar with it, you suddenly hear a story.

One hears years in the dark.

You can hear it for a few weeks in the light.

You can hear summer in all its power.

A small miracle by the wayside

Perhaps the most beautiful thing about cicadas is that you almost never consciously see them.

You can hear them everywhere and find them with a patient eye. They are so well camouflaged on bark, branches, and trunks that you often miss them. You stand right next to them, look into the tree, and follow the sound.

That fits somehow, too.

Much of what defines a country reveals itself in subtle and recurring signs. Some things must be heard, smelled, felt. Northern Cyprus consists of Bellapais, Salamis, Girne, the Karpaz Mountains, and Alagadi. And it consists of the small summer signs along the way.

The dust on the shoes.

The resinous scent of the pine trees.

The warm stone wall in the evening.

And this Ziiiiiiii, which lies above everything.

If you hear it tomorrow

So if you happen to be in Cyprus and you hear this sound, stop for a moment.

Look up at the trees.

Perhaps it will only reveal itself after a moment. And now you know that up there sits a small animal that has lived in darkness for years and is now giving its all for a few weeks.

It sings its own summer song.

And you may listen.

And perhaps the sound that was just noise will suddenly become something completely different: a sign that the Mediterranean summer is truly here.

All love

Samira & Marten

Sources

- UC IPM: Cicadas, life cycle and nymphs underground: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/cicadas/

- Amateur Entomologists' Society: Cicada glossary, tymbal and life cycle: https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/cicada/

- Museu Virtual Biodiversidade: Cicada orni: https://museubiodiversidade.uevora.pt/elenco-de-especies/biodiversidade-actual/animais/artropodes/insectos/cicada-orni/

- Phrygana.eu: Cicada orni, Mediterranean activity and adult life: https://phrygana.eu/Fauna/Cicadomorpha/Cicadidae/Cicada-orni/Cicada-orni.html

- PMC: Checklist and provisional atlas of singing cicadas, Cicada orni as common Mediterranean species: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7567745/

- Cicadina: Review of Cicadas / Auchenorrhyncha of Cyprus: https://public.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/cicadina/article/view/78

- University of Connecticut: Cicada behavior and tymbals: https://draft.cicadas.uconn.edu/behavior/

- CSIRO: Why cicadas are loud: https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2018/December/sounds-of-summer-why-are-cicadas-so-loud

- CDC/NIOSH: Cicada noise and hearing context: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/bulletin/2021/cicada.html