Extremely rare “blue-eyed” cicada spotted in Chicago suburb

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Zoo animals chow down on rare cicadas

Animals at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, were spotted eating cicadas. The periodical cicadas have emerged for the first time in 17 years and are part of two broods. The last time this happened was in 1803. 

Two separate families in the Chicago suburbs stumbled upon a “one in a million” blue-eyed cicada, sharing pictures of the vibrant insect.

Greta Bailey told Fox News Digital that her 4-year-old son, Jack, was collecting the typically red-eyed cicada when the family first spotted the bright-eyed insect in their Wheaton, Illinois backyard.

Bailey told FOX 59 that she did not realize that blue-eyed cicadas existed – until one wandered into her backyard.

“I thought it was cool and unique and had not heard that blue-eyed cicadas even existed,” Bailey said.

Greta Bailey’s four-year-old son spotted the vibrant-eyed cicadas in the family’s Wheaton, Illinois backyard. (Greta Bailey via Facebook)

Bailey said that her family enjoyed taking pictures of the cicada before they released it back into the wild.

Images from Bailey showed the small and surprisingly blue-eyed cicada being held by her three children.

Greta Bailey’s daughters hold the blue-eyed cicadas. The insect was later released by the family. (Greta Bailey via Facebook)

Another woman in a Chicago suburb found a “one in a million” blue-eyed cicada while visiting a nature preserve. 

Kelly Simkins, who owns Merlin’s Rocking Pet Show, shared her striking find in a Facebook post, snapping a picture of the cicada’s vibrant blue eyes. 

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“One in a million blue-eyed cicada found today at 7am,” Simkins said in the post.

Two different blue-eyed cicadas were found in the Chicago suburbs this week. (Greta Bailey and Kelly Simpkins)

While the families find were rare, it is not unheard of.

The blue eyes are caused by a genetic variation, said Gene Kritsky, author of “Periodical Cicadas: The Plague and the Puzzle.”

Blue-eyed cicadas are indeed one in a million, Kritsky confirmed. “Of course,” he added, “there are hundreds of millions of cicadas.”