Simon says: "Let's meet the Cicada orni (Ash Cicada)"

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The Cicada orni (Ash Cicada)

Israel is home to nearly 300 species of cicada - out of around 1,300 known worldwide - & more are constantly being discovered. That's roughly 1 in 4 of all the cicadas on Earth, buzzing away in a country the size of a postage stamp!

You've almost certainly heard them before you've seen them. That deafening wall of sound on a hot summer afternoon? That's the males. They're not singing for our benefit, they're advertising. Loudly. Relentlessly. With the romantic subtlety of a car alarm!

And here's the strange part: most of their lives are spent underground. Cicada nymphs can live beneath the soil for years, feeding on plant roots, before emerging for a brief adult life above ground, sometimes just a few weeks. All that time underground, for a few weeks of shouting in the sun.

Israel's cicadas turn up everywhere: in the Jerusalem Hills, the Galilee, the coastal plain.... & they're part of the soundtrack of an Israeli summer. Once you start noticing them, you can't stop. Which is a bit like me & my facts about ancient agriculture & archeological sites🤣

Next time you hear that deafening buzz on tour, don't swat it, salute it. It waited years underground for that moment.

Book a summer tour with Imagine Israel Tours, & let me introduce you to the loudest residents of Israel.

📩 imagineisraelenquiries@gmail.com
📲 Phone/WhatsApp: +972 54 2390412
🌐 https://imagineisrael-tours.com/

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