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View Full Version : Illinois Bridge Belongs To The Bugs, Now



Teh One Who Knocks
06-28-2016, 11:34 AM
Andrew P Collins - Jalopnik


http://i.imgur.com/06RSgBJ.jpg

The Havana, Illinois police department says be careful on the bridge; it’s covered in bugs. As in– six inches deep with mud made of insect.

Police say the bugslop made of mayflies has bogged cars and crashed motorcycles.

I’ve ridden through some nasty mud holes, but man, I don’t know if I’d go hard-charging into this biblical bug invasion.

http://i.imgur.com/1C0TBY9.jpg

Mayflies, which are apparently a commonly occurring plague in the Great Lakes region, are basically water bugs that sprout wings and swarm before laying eggs and dying again. Hence their being on the bridge.

As the Havana Police posted on their Facebook page:


“Please use caution when driving across the bridge today. Last night there was an invasion of Mayflies that has caused the bridge to be very dangerous. At one point they had piled 6 inches high and when ran over, became very slick. There were already motorcycle accidents due to this and cars stuck in the center of the bridge. Again use Caution.” [sic]

For those that can’t avoid driving through mayfly swarms, Entomology Today says “Use windshield wipers sparingly. Smeared mayflies are just nasty,” and adds that the bugs can be bad enough to actually effect your stopping distance so be careful at intersections.

Tasty!

Pony
06-28-2016, 12:25 PM
They are all over on the island right now. Still waiting for the "big" hatch.

RBP
06-28-2016, 01:33 PM
Are these different than the 17 year cicadas?

Pony
06-28-2016, 04:50 PM
Are these different than the 17 year cicadas?

Yep. Every year there are multiple hatches out of the lakes over the course of 3-4 weeks, billions of them take to the air every evening. They stay very close to the lake so you won't see them more than 500 yards or so from the shore. Many of the hatches are so large it shows up on the weather radar looking like a severe storm. You'll see crews scooping up the corpses with bulldozers.

They are annoying as hell but harmless, and a very good sign of a healthy fresh water lake.

http://i.imgur.com/jVryg8G.jpg

Griffin
06-29-2016, 02:09 AM
Turn off the bridge lights till the swarm is gone.

redred
06-29-2016, 08:26 AM
http://i.imgur.com/RYuo2is.png