Don’t eat cicadas if you’re allergic to seafood, FDA warns

People who are allergic to seafood should avoid eating cicadas, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The insect shares a family relation with shrimp and lobsters, officials said.

“We have to say it,” the FDA stated in a tweet on Wednesday. “Don’t eat #cicadas if you’re allergic to seafood as these insects share a family relation to shrimp and lobsters.”

[EXPLAINER: What are cicadas and why do they bug some people?]

The insect usually exists in the eastern United States: “annual cicadas, which emerge every year, and periodical cicadas, which emerge every 13 or 17 years,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Cicadas are not harmful to humans, pets, household gardens or crops.

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The bug can most noticeably be identified by the adult males’ loud courting sound, the EPA stated.

17-year brood of cicadas to invade Carolinas 17-year brood of cicadas to invade Carolinas

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