People get creative with art made of cicada shells as summer revs up

Some people have come up with a creative solution for the flood of wild-nature shells that have cropped up across the country – with monster-inspired genres. 

The species – Brood X – have descended on states across the eastern and southern U.S. after a 17-year hiatus. Trillions of the insects will deposit their shells in states including Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

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Normally, residents have no choice but deal with the shells wherever they go: Stuck to trees, scattered across the ground, wherever bugs might go. 

However, a recently rediscovered art piece from 2018 has spurred others to similar creative pursuit. 

Twitter user @Ride_Hero_ created a giant monster-inspired creature out of dozens or even hundreds of cicada shells. The monster takes inspiration from old Japanese monster movies and shows, like Godzilla, Ultraman or Super Sentai – the show that Power Rangers is based on. 

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The striking sculpture inspired similar work from other artists: Twitter user @YizzyYu created a replica of a Xenomorph from the Alien movie franchise. 

“They’re evolving!” she tweeted. “Getting ready for the coming cicada emergence with some art inspiration from ride_hero’s creations and other cicada shell artists out there.”

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The art is so unbelievable that Snopes ran a fact-check on the art, confirming that, yes, people are harvesting hundreds of shed cicada shells to make monster sculptures. 

For those curious, user @rlavemmN8fX18pY showed a step-by-step of how he made a cicada statue of classic Ultraman monster Baltan in Oct. 2020. 

Some people have taken a more mainstream approach and simply created art inspired by cicadas. 

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In Baltimore, artists created life-size painted cicadas, cicada statues and chalk art on sidewalks.