Before You Eat a Cicada...

I was in Middle Tennessee this Memorial Day weekend, and the cicadas are out in full MF'in effect. They're swarming everywhere (is swarming a word?) and they are so loud I feel like I'm losing my mind.
So now people are eating them. This article from Nashville highlights how two adventurers decided to throw them on the grill and eat them like popcorn:
"You know people really eat them,” she recalled, talking over dinner recently. “One of our relatives even said they taste really good with tempura batter and buttermilk.” Later that evening, they were in the yard with a pair of tongs, and then over a skillet of butter, garlic and red-eyed critter.
Surprisingly, it turns out the cicada comes from the Arthropoda group of creatures along with lobster, shrimp, crayfish and crab. Leading the Tennessean to share these tips:

Before you eat a cicada

CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. The University of Maryland recommends consulting with your physician before consuming cicadas. Pesticides and other chemical accumulation is possible, though it should not pose a problem unless large amounts of the insect are eaten. The nutritional content also is unknown, so please take special caution if you have other food allergies such as soy, nuts, or shellfish, or contact allergies to other insects.

CHOOSE WISELY. Newly hatched cicadas called tenerals are considered best for eating because their shells have not yet hardened. Collect them in the early hours of the morning just after they have emerged, but before they have time to climb out of reach. Simply scoop them into a brown paper bag.

BLANCHE OR BOIL. Cicadas should be blanched (or boiled for 4-5 minutes) before eating and soon after they have been collected. Blanching helps their insides solidify a bit and will reduce the chance of any soil bacteria that could be living on or in them.
Source: Jenna Jadin and University of Maryland Cicadamaniacs, 2004.

Let me just point out that when cicadas shed their exoskeleton, they leave this shit behind on tree branches everywhere:


I think I'll sit this one out.