Rare blue-eyed cicada donated to Field Museum: 'One in a million'

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Rare blue-eyed cicada donated to Field Museum
A rare blue-eyed cicada has been donated to Chicago's Field Museum by a Wheaton family. It has a "one in a million" mutation from normal red eyes.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A rare blue-eyed cicada found by a suburban family has been donated to Chicago's Field Museum.

A 4-year-old, Jack Bailey, from Wheaton discovered it.

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His sister noticed it had blue eyes. The family took pictures of the cicada and then released it back into the yard.

Later, they discovered how rare blue-eyed cicadas are, so they found it again.

It is now the first blue-eyed cicada in the Field Museum's collection, which is over a century old.

The insect has rare mutation that is "one in a million," experts say. The mutation causes cicadas red eyes to be gray-ish blue instead.

The cicada is on display at the museum. More information about how to see it can be found on their website's event page.