A swarm of babies insects in the sky of New York which has now earned the city the nickname “Bug Apple”. “Bug” means “insect” in the language of Shakespeare. On social networks, many New Yorkers have shared photos of green and white clouds, the color of the insects in question, during these few days.
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Mysterious invaders who have caused concern among the population to the point that most residents have handed over their masks to avoid inhaling or swallowing these tiny creatures invisible to the naked eye. Their arrival notably began just three weeks after the thick, orange fog that momentarily covered the city following major fires in Canada. However, according to experts, the appearance of these small winged beasts would be unrelated to these fires.
A phenomenon due to a too hot winter
The clouds of insects flying over skyscrapers have a simple explanation: aphids. In any case, this is the theory of David Grimaldi, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History. He declared in the columns of the New York media “The City”, that this phenomenon would be linked to the development of a particularly dense population of aphids. “When a population becomes very large, the emergence of winged aphids is impressive,” he explains. Nevertheless, the quantity of these insects raises questions. In an article in the “New York Times”, Corrie Moreau, a professor in the department of entomology at the American University Cornell, describes however as “unusual” the number of flying aphids. In question, the winter of 2023 which was particularly hot in this geographical area with an average temperature of 43.5 ° F (about 6 ° C).
No health risk according to experts
Despite New Yorkers’ concerns about these new invaders clinging to clothing and hair, the health risks would be nil. The New York City Department of Health, however, has promised to investigate the proliferation of these insects and share any necessary health information. But should we really be alarmed by the appearance of these insects in reality? Experts do not entirely agree with this idea since “it means that we have a healthy environment”, according to David Grimaldi in “The City”. Although the phenomenon seems surprising at first glance, swarms of insects are actually common in the United States. An invasion of locusts was still taking place in the State of Nevada and giant snails were also appearing in Florida very recently, causing general amazement.
2023-07-04 13:00:47
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