What’s Bugging You?

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled a limited-edition Cicada Bobblehead on Friday.

Trillions of the insects are expected to emerge in the United States by the end of June, especially in the Midwest as well as parts of the southern and eastern portions of the United States, due to an unusual overlap of the lifecycles of two broods of cicadas. The 13-year and 17-year cicadas only emerge in these regions of the U.S. in the same year every 221 years, with 2024 being the first such year since 1803. The first Cicada Bobblehead is being produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

Positioned on a base bearing its name across the front with a grass-like texture on top, the cicada bobblehead features its prominent red eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous wings. The bobbleheads, which will be individually numbered, are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. Expected to ship in November, the bobbleheads cost $30 each, plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.

The periodical cicada spends most of its life underground, emerging after 13 or 17 years depending on the species to transform, reproduce, and ultimately die over the space of just a few days. Huge populations of the insects have synced up to emerge within the same window of time to give them the best chance of successfully finding a mate and producing young before they are eaten by predators or expire naturally. These populations are called broods, and for the first time since 1803, two of them the 17-year Brook XIII, concentrated in northern Illinois, and the 13-year Brood XIX found in southern Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and throughout the Southeast – are emerging together.

“We’re excited to create this bobblehead celebrating the triumphant return of the cicada,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “The sounds of summer have taken on a new meaning in 2024 with the arrival of the popular insects. This bobblehead is a must-have for cicada lovers everywhere.”