Rare blue-eyed cicada creates a buzz

CHICAGO, June 12 (UPI) -- A 6-year-old Chicago-area boy has achieved his goal of finding and capturing a rare blue-eyed cicada he learned about in kindergarten.

The large insects known for their emergence from the ground every 17 years -- and high-pitched buzzing -- normally have red eyes, but when Nicholas Wagner learned some had blue eyes, he set his sights on finding one, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

The boy's mother, Maria Wagner, told the newspaper her son made the find last Friday and has since kept the insect in a netted cage on the family's deck.

Gene Kritsky, author of "Periodical Cicadas: The Plague and the Puzzle," said the find was "once in a million," although he acknowledged "there are hundreds of millions of cicadas," the Sun-Times said.

In the meantime, he said the boy should enjoy the cicada while he can, as the red eyes usually turn black when they died.