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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  4229 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Cicadas begin their Staten Island takeover

Is that a cricket? A harmless, little, disney top hat wearing, cricket!! That's what terrified you in to the streets of NYC in your PJ's?

Wuss.





AlderaanDuran  ·  4229 days ago  ·  link  ·  

How bout something that's really worth being grossed out by? A Mayfly Storm.

Just to creep you and others out, and also give a bonus 80s throwback time-machine video to this bug-hating. The Minnesota 1987 Mayfly "storm". They were piled feet high in areas around the rivers and bridges (they hatch in the water and tend to stick near it), and at one point the state started using snow-plow trucks to start clearing them from roads...

http://www.kare11.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1738226228001

I was alive for this, and remember it only in my nightmares. I was on a boat on the Mississippi during this mayfly storm. We stayed indoors all night, but the next day there was literally piles of mayflies all over the boat, docks, parking lots, roads, etc. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever lived through. The stupid bastards all hatch at once, and only live for a day or two, try to mate, and then die. It's the grossest orgy I've ever been a part of.

Also love the 80s cars and hair in this video. Totally made my night looking this event up.

humanodon  ·  4229 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Termites do this too, in different parts of the world. Usually they hatch after the first heavy rain of the rainy season. After they fuck, they die. Then, there are ants everywhere, carrying much of the mess off.

thenewgreen  ·  4229 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Wow, that was awesome! And not just because of the bugs, but also because of the 1980s flashback. We have Mayflies every year up in Charlevoix MI. Some years are worse than others but I've never seen them pile up on the roads 2 feet deep. That's just crazy.