Cissy Cicada stopped by the Bloom office on Tuesday, June 15, to enter the contest. Photo by Rodney Margison

As you might have noticed, millions of Brood X periodical cicadas have descended upon the skies and streets of Bloomington in recent weeks.

We know that, just like people, dogs, and snowflakes, no two cicadas are alike—some are cute, some are gorgeous, and then there are those few with faces only their mothers could love.

To celebrate, Bloom is hosting the first ever Great Bloomington Cicada Beauty Contest, hosted septdecennially (yes, that means once every 17 years). The contest will feature photographs of some of Bloomington’s handsomest cicadas.

To enter, please send a photo of your beautiful cicada to [email protected] with the subject line “Cicada.” Be sure to provide your cicada’s name and, perhaps, a short bio about their interests (screaming is a given).

The winning cicada photo will be published in the August/September issue of Bloom Magazine!

Below, see a photo gallery of the current entries for Most Beautiful Bloomington Cicada.