We’ve received some responses to our request that readers share interesting cicada pictures, cicada experiences or even cicada recipes with us. 

Janice McLaughlin, of Oxford, sent in a picture of a “rare” white-eyed cicada perched on her finger. 

Most cicadas have red eyes, and there are stories floating around on the internet that white-eyed and even rarer blue-eyed cicadas are valuable and that “people” will pay up to $1,000 for one. 

If you find THAT to be true, send us a picture of the $1,000. 

According to Cicada Mania website, white and blue-eyed cicadas are more rare than red-eyes, but not so rare that you would not be able to find one if you carefully checked out all the bugs buzzing in your own backyard. 

Oxford Vice Mayor Bill Snavely also sent us a cicada picture this week, showing discarded cicada exo-skeletons mounded like mulch around the base of a tree in his daughter’s yard in Middletown.

It’s a good idea to spread cicada bodies around with a rake because as they decompose, they often start to smell.

Nobody sent us any cicada recipes this week, but we did come across a warning on Twitter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If you are allergic to shellfish, you should avoid snacking on cicadas “as these insects share a family relation with shrimp and lobsters.” 

The Observer will continue to run these little tidbits as long as the buzz lasts – probably through the end of the month. Email your cicada pictures and lore to [email protected].