There’s a bug invasion along the lakefront. An annual event this time of year, as aquatic insects emerge from the lake.
They’re called midges. Some call them lake flies.
Some cyclists and runners have reported getting them in their mouths.
What they’re doing when you see them swarming is mating, according to Allen Lawrance, Curator of Entomology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature museum.
“They are a small fly about the size and shape of a mosquito,” he said, “except they do not bite. These are aquatic insects that spend most of their life as larvae under water on the bottom of ponds and lakes.”
They’re harmless, he said.
Just looking to keep the cycle of life going.
“In the spring through the fall there are different species that will emerge and come above the water,” Lawrance said. “They’re looking to mate and they form these flying little clouds where a bunch of male midges will be flying around and then a female midge will fly into the cloud and pair off to mate, and then after mating the female midge will go back to the lake and lay their eggs on the surface.”
The eggs will sink to the bottom.
Midges are food for birds, fish and other insects.
“They are an incredibly important link in the ecosystem,” he said.
Lawrence said they’ll be swarming for no more than a couple weeks.
Then you won’t notice them anymore.