Slip Slidding Away

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Havana, Illinois has a bug problem. Not bed bugs or cockroaches, mayflies. Their bridge is covered in them and by covered I mean up to six inches deep. The resulting bug goo all over the bridge has caused a number of accidents, cars and motorcycles. A certain kind of water bug grows wings and swarms as mayflies before laying eggs. I am thinking there will be far fewer of the water bugs this season because so many got squished on the bridge before laying eggs.
     Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 28, 2016
     Category: Highways, Roads, Streets and Traffic | Insects and Spiders





Comments
It's like the Minnesota bug invasion of 1957!

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/bug_invasion/
Posted by Alex on 06/28/16 at 10:25 AM
Yep, its the same thing and just as gross especially with color photos!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 06/28/16 at 10:41 AM
My hometown had the same problem last year, and oddly enough the picture of a mayfly covered bridge at the top of this page is from that incident. not the one in Illinois.
Posted by yoyogod on 06/28/16 at 10:55 AM
The last place where I lived before I left California was in the Sierra foothills around Sonora. Tarantulas were the animal involved in that area and although the numbers were not to the extent of this example, the results were still pretty messy on the roadways. They did make a satisfying "splooch" sound as they went under the tires, though.
Posted by KDP on 06/28/16 at 11:00 AM
I got the pic from yahoo images, sorry I did not mean to misrepresent the image.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 06/28/16 at 11:15 AM
Not enough trout.
Posted by drivekiller on 06/28/16 at 11:05 PM
I used to live in Port Huron, Michigan. I could tell before getting out of bed in the morning when the mayflies had arrived. They would congregate overnight under the street light in front of my house. When a car would drive by, it made a very distinctive sound as hundreds or thousands of mayflies were popped/squished by the wheels of the car.

But a few hours after sunrise, there'd be no sign they were ever there. The birds had a feast and cleaned them all up.

I don't know what the mechanism is, but year after year they'd return to the same street light, ignoring the other nearby. They seems to have particular spots for their meet and greets (and squish and pops).
Posted by Robb of Warren on 06/29/16 at 09:00 PM
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