Why are cicada shells rare?

[Alolan_Apples]

As August is coming to an end, the Cicadas will be taking off. The problem here is that the cicada shell is the only insect I have yet to catch, and I had no luck finding them. Why couldn’t I find them? What is Nintendo’s reason to make them impossible to find?

 

[Theoneandonlymegan]

I have only ever found one. I used to find them constantly in new leaf so I’m not entirely sure why it is suddenly so difficult

 

[Sharksheep]

I found mine on the regular hardwood trees and on cedar trees. There's a nook mile achievement for getting one so maybe that's why it's rare. It's kinda dumb but maybe get a bunch of turnips to dig up the trees and transplant them onto bamboo island and maybe you can get it to spawn that way?

 

[Khaelis]

I literally found my first one a couple days ago, on a random mystery island. When I saw it, I popped off so hard. I'm literally only missing the giraffe stag at the moment. Can't find it. I'm suffering.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I have only ever found one. I used to find them constantly in new leaf so I’m not entirely sure why it is suddenly so difficult

I know. Believe it or not, it’s easier to find the barreleye than a cicada shell.

Do you think I can’t catch one because all trees in my town are fruit trees?

 

[SmrtLilCookie]

I literally saw one the whole time cicadas were around and I am so glad I went to net it rather than ignoring it. I almost missed it entirely because it blended in so well with the tree bark. I wish it wasn’t such a hard “bug” to find. Given how common the cicadas are you’d think empty shells would be everywhere.

 

[Khaelis]

I literally saw one the whole time cicadas were around and I am so glad I went to net it rather than ignoring it. I almost missed it entirely because it blended in so well with the tree bark. I wish it wasn’t such a hard “bug” to find. Given how common the cicadas are you’d think empty shells would be everywhere.

I could probably go outside IRL right now, walk up to a random tree and find half a dozen of them littered about on the ground and branches.

 

[Red Cat]

You can't find a cicada shell in the wild. You have to raise a brown cicada to level 20 while you have a stone in your inventory and an open inventory slot to get it.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I think the best solution to finding a cicada shell is to contact Nintendo of America to discuss this problem. They shouldn’t be this rare.

 

[-Blue-]

Step 1. Catch a cicada
Step 2. Submerge cicada in a bathtub full of hot water. Like really hot.
Step 3. Cicada jumps out of its shell and runs to colder water to soothe its burned bum.

 

[Hypno KK]

I've found two of them so far but there's other critters I haven't seen at all. For example, I've triple-checked when turtles (not the soft-shelled ones, the other ones) are supposed to appear but I haven't found any. I've only ever seen an Atlas moth once, too.

I think I caught mine on regular trees so maybe they really don't spawn on fruit trees? You could try planting a normal tree somewhere on your island and seeing if that helps.

 

[-Blue-]

My problem is that the shells will probably spawn in my cedar forest area where I have some of the trees pretty close together and knowing my luck I will probably bump one of the trees and not realize a shell was once on it.

 

[Mick]

I have found only two as well. I did ask why there was an achievement for finding one in the general FAQ thread a while back but looking back it might just be their rarity because I haven't really seen them around...

 

[Firesquids]

I have played over 1000 hours of NH and I still havent seen a single flea!
it's the only bug I need to complete my Museum and then I'll need three more for the model ;A;

 

[saucySheep]

I've found 2 so far lol.

Uh.. idk. See, I live in an area where cicadas are extremely COMMON.... not to mention their shells. You can't walk 2 feet without seeing a couple shells cling to some sort of tree or other structure. It boggles me how impossible it is to find them in this game... I mean, with how common the actual cicadas are, shouldn't we be seeing all their shells? Gosh it's ridiculous lol

 

[-Blue-]

I've found 2 so far lol.

Uh.. idk. See, I live in an area where cicadas are extremely COMMON.... not to mention their shells. You can't walk 2 feet without seeing a couple shells cling to some sort of tree or other structure. It boggles me how impossible it is to find them in this game... I mean, with how common the actual cicadas are, shouldn't we be seeing all their shells? Gosh it's ridiculous lol

I feel like the shells should show up for the last week or two when the cicadas will leave in NH. It'd make more sense than having them be super rare. You can't have that many cicadas showing up everywhere and not a single molting.

 

[Florence + The Machine]

The only one I’ve found was on an orange tree, so they can definitely spawn on fruit trees. At least there’s no chance of them flying away if you do actually manage to find one.

 

[Your Local Wild Child]

I THINK it’s because they tied a nook miles achievement to it for whatever reason. It’s dumb but it’s the only reason I can think of.

 

[saucySheep]

I feel like the shells should show up for the last week or two when the cicadas will leave in NH. It'd make more sense than having them be super rare. You can't have that many cicadas showing up everywhere and not a single molting.

hmm yeah.
Tbh im excited for the cicadas to go bc the noise just bothers me lmao

 

[moo_nieu]

I still haven't caught one either I'm hoping I'll catch it before the end of the month..