It's not exactly a plague of locusts, but regions the Midwest are under siege from swarms of dragonflies and other insects, so many that they're showing up as large green blobs on weather radar, ABC News reported.
Twitter | @RonSmileyWx
So Many Dragonflies Swarmed The Midwest That They Showed Up On Weather Radar
The massive swarms of insects have been spotted over three states so far.
Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania have all seen a startling amount of insects, mainly dragonflies, over their skies in recent days.
It's easy to see how these swarms could be mistaken for rain.
In Pennsylvania, KDKA meteorologist Ron Smiley had to spread the word to his viewers and followers on social media just in case they mistook the blob representing "billions of bugs" on the radar for rain clouds.
And if that's what the weather maps look like, what's the situation on the ground?
Well, according to WKBN, residents in some counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania have, in some cases, encountered "thousands of dragonflies — to the point that it looked like a small tornado."
Scientists aren't entirely sure why dragonflies swarm like this.
Apparently dragonfly swarms are difficult to study.
As Scientific American reported, dragonfly swarms are "incredibly ephemeral events. You have to be in the right place at the right time to see one and many people will go their entire lives without ever witnessing a swarm."
These swarms over the Midwest appear to be migrating south.
Unsplash | Krzysztof Niewolny
Migrating swarms tend to contain millions of dragonflies, all of them moving in a single direction just 15-30 meters above the ground, according to Scientific American.
The belief is that in a few days, these particular swarms will clear out, making their way toward the Caribbean.
Filed Under:
Most Popular
