Bladder cicada trading card. Bladder cicadas (Cystosoma saundersii) are found in Australia. Link to Dr. Popple’s website for more info.
July 12, 2020
July 10, 2020
Cicada-themed Pokemon. Ninjask & Shedinja.
Here’s some cicada-inspired Pokemon:
Ninjask:
Ninjask:
Shedinja:
Cicada Toys and Collectables
Some videos and images of cicada toys and collectibles. Enjoy.
Playlist of videos of a few of the items on this page and more:
Cicada click toy from Japan. Found in an antique store in Ohio:
A larger cicada click toy. I think I found this one on eBay:
Cicada clothes pins. I think Roy Troutman sent me these:
Cicada noise maker. Crank it and it makes a noise.
Cicada face magnet. Found in eBay.
Cicada whistle from Peru. I received this as a gift.
Plus cicada toys from Japan. Found on eBay. The black and green on is a Hyalessa maculaticollis.
Cicada socks:
Cicada spinner whistle:
Carved Bamboo Cicada:
March 24, 2020
Two random cicada-related images
Two random cicada-related images.
Various cicada ephemera, including a cicada pencil, fishing lures, keychains, pins, etc.:
A Seminingen — a character from the show Ultraman — and a Cicada Man bobble head.
Cicada Carousel Ride at the Brookfield Zoo
Cicada Carousel Ride at the Brookfield Zoo, in Brookfield, Illinois. 2007 in celebration of Brood XIII.
March 7, 2020
Archie McPhee advertisement for the Lucky Cicada
Here’s a snippet of an Archie McPhee advertisement for the Lucky Cicada toy/keychain. The image was sent to us my Suzanne M.
Whining Cicada with Blinking Eyes Keyring
Also called the “cicada toy that may shrill”This is for everyone who has lived with treefulls of these screaming locusts, has moved away from locust country, and secretly misses them. This lifelike beast, though, far beats any you might have encountered. When you press the metal button on its belly, its eyes flash green and it emits a gut-wrenching cicada whine that sounds like the background music in a science fiction thriller. And it lasts 20 whole seconds! And “since it has cells, you can play anytime.” That’s what it says. Black body, realistic, detailed green wings. 2-3/8″ long, about 1-1/2″ wide at the widest point. Great packaging. Each cicada is blistersealed on a 3-1/2″ x 5″ card with great illustrations. Part of the forest bug series. Nifty pocket clip. And, it’s a keyring. No one could live without this for very long after finding out it exists.
More Lucky Cicada Keychain Images
Back in the 1990’s Archie McPhee/Accoutrements distributed the Lucky Cicada, a toy with a keyring that would sing when you squeezed its abdomen. Its eyes lit up green too.
All we have now are memories and memorabilia, because they aren’t making them anymore. That said, there are manufacturers in China who have the plans and will make them. That’s a story for another day. Thanks to Roy Troutman for the images.
Front and back packaging:
The keychain and packaging:
4 different paint jobs. And red eyes! Collect them all!
February 29, 2020
Neotibicen linnei photo by Tom Lehmkuhl
Tom Lehmkuhl sent us this photo of an uninvited house guest, a Neotibicen linnei cicada.
November 10, 2019
Vincent van Gogh’s Three Cicadas
People love cicada art possibly more than they love cicadas (my social media posts about cicada art get more views than photos of cicadas).
Here’s Vincent van Gogh’s Three Cicadas. It’s an ink & paper sketch and study. He created it in 1889, in Saint-rémy-de-provence, France. If you want to see it IRL, it’s at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
I’d like to, but I can’t think of something clever to say about the fact that cicadas sing, and van Gogh removed his left ear.
October 20, 2018
Cicadas that look like Dracula!
Halloween is almost here, and so I created something special for that time of year: a poster of cicadas with pronotal collars that look like Dracula’s collar — or at least Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Or maybe Dr. Strange?
Download the large 1.4MB version.
The image features the cicada’s species name and where it can be found. To save space, I went with the continent(s) in when the cicada is found in multiple nations or continents.
The images of cicadas come from the Genera Insectorum 1913, Genera Insectorum 1914, and Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. I (1881-1905). Old but classic and important documents with plenty of awesome cicada illustrations.
Happy Halloween!!
