Residents of central Newfoundland must be feeling like they’re part of some strange horror film.
The region has been dealing with sudden swarms of flies, commonly known as March flies.
The harmless creatures have been showing up suddenly in such numbers that they’re even washing up in piles on beaches.
Tom Chapman is the co-author of Stouts, Millers and Forky-tails, a book about local insects, and teaches entomology at Memorial University where he heads the Biology Department.
He says the insects are a species of fly (Bibionidae) that may not be familiar to many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
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Unless they’ve travelled to Florida, where the creatures are known as “love bugs.”
Chapman says he’s not sure what’s causing the current outbreak, but says there was a similar incident about 20 years ago.
He says the current outbreak will eventually dissipate and the insects might not be seen again in similar numbers for another 15 years or so.
While the insects may have people’s skin crawling, they don’t bit and are great pollinators.
