A view of adult cicadas Photo: VCG

The appearance of the insects known as Brood X along the eastern US has inspired Virginia professional portrait photographer Oxana Ware to create small-scale art installations, placing the ubiquitous bugs in novel and unexpected settings.

"I always teach my kids to be playful and respectful of nature, so that's how the idea was born," said the 39-year-old, who has three young children. "We started with my son's fire truck and that was just a huge hit."

Ware collected the cicadas in her yard and placed them in doll house-sized settings she had made to showcase them. "I've been missing live music so much so I decided to do a cicada rock band," she said, setting up the scene with miniature musical instruments. 

What started as a light-hearted way to memorialize the cicadas has helped children become unafraid of the cicadas, Ware said.

Reuters