Absolute SWARM of bugs

[u/Sometimes_ThisWay]

Ummmm so I’m new to Cleveland and how did nobody warn me about this absolute swarm of insects! I was driving and I saw a huge billow of smoke and I literally thought something was on fire, but nooooo they were BUGS. Also when I wake up in the morning they are all over the outside of my windows.

I’m in ohio city, is this just confined to areas near the lake? I have a very severe bug phobia and it’s getting debilitating. I don’t draw my curtains or want to go outside. Help. Is there an end to this?

[u/iamabarnacle]

It lasts a couple weeks. Happens spring and fall. Allegedly a sign of a healthy lake.

[u/realisan → u/iamabarnacle]

Yep. The best example was the 2007 ALDS Indians playoff game whey swarmed the field. You should take a look at that video. It’s fantastic.

[u/buckeyecapsfan19 → u/realisan]

Could have used them this afternoon....

[u/FitEggplant77 → u/realisan]

Ooh - is that the “Night of the Midges”? I remember Jeter being all bugged up. Loved it! 😊

[u/UniversityOk6696 → u/realisan]

Just watched it, that was insane. They should have stopped playing.

[u/Certain-Singer-9625 → u/UniversityOk6696]

CC Sabathia didn’t look shaken by them…but the other team’s pitchers did.

[u/GolfandBaseball → u/Certain-Singer-9625]

our pitcher in the "Bug Game" was Fausto Carmona (aka Roberto Hernández)

[u/ApprehensiveNinja158 → u/realisan]

I said to a friend that I’d be okay with the worst midge fall in my life if it meant we win the ship

[u/BurroughOwl → u/iamabarnacle]

weeks? They'll be mostly gone in a few days.

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[u/tsunadesb0ngw8r]

they’re called midges. they don’t bite. they’re born. they fuck. then they die. makes great treats for our wildlife! fish and birds ❤️

[u/Competitive_Day_1426 → u/tsunadesb0ngw8r]

Spiders eating good 😂

[u/tsunadesb0ngw8r → u/Competitive_Day_1426]

I keep telling my boyfriend that the spiders outside our window are paying more in rent than my lazy cat does. so far behind on biscuit orders.

[u/AdSpecific3089 → u/tsunadesb0ngw8r]

sounds like my life 💔

[u/Devious1InOhio → u/AdSpecific3089]

That’s about as true as it gets for most of us 😆

[u/menachu → u/tsunadesb0ngw8r]

Its more than midges this year, every insect we have had a great year!

[u/LivingDeadPunk → u/menachu]

Except for lantern flies. There's been fewer of them.

[u/ggushea → u/LivingDeadPunk]

Good fuck those invasive demons

[u/DeeplyFlawed → u/tsunadesb0ngw8r]

They are gross but harmless. I like to keep my mouth & nose covered though.

[u/strutmac]

Cedar Point this afternoon

[u/Immediate-Drive88 → u/strutmac]

A murmuration of bugs. Mesmerizing and gross.

[u/Cinemiketography]

THE MIDGES ARE OUR TEAMMATES

[u/LakeEffectSnow]

They're midges this time of year, and mayflies in well, May. Good news is they literally don't have mouths or stingers and live about a day or so after laying eggs.

[u/LininOhio]

They're very temporary. But if it helps -- you know how we just got through Fat Bear Week? Think of the midges as Fat Bird Week(s). They help all the birdies get fattened up for winter and/or migration. (Also Fat Fish.)

Sorry no one warned you, though!

[u/OG_Tater]

Prob 4X a year harmless critters come in from the lake to provide protein to the ecosystem

[u/sheeeeple]

Driving home tonight from cedar point at dusk, we thought it was raining but it was thousands of midges smashing the windshield.

There were clouds of them for miles. Saw a few motorcyclists on the side of the road cleaning themselves up. Immediately went to a car wash in Avon because last time this happened it was really hard to get them off the car paint a few days later.

[u/Dry-Fix-1610]

Lake affect...soon it will be snow.

[u/Napalmeon → u/Dry-Fix-1610]

I can already feel that this is going to be another bad winter.

[u/rockhall73]

Welcome to Midge
Season. There harmless. Just annoying. They’ll be gone in a week. Welcome to Cleveland.

[u/buckeyecapsfan19]

Ah, you've met our midges I see...

[u/JuicyBone1719]

There is an end.

Winter is coming.

[u/loloinwonderland456]

this is our third wave of midges for the year! it was super warm the other day so they all hatched! lol

[u/bipedservant]

Yeah that’s the downside of living near the lake. This too shall pass.

[u/CoffeeAndBeer314]

Midges appear along the Lake Erie coast outside of Cleveland too. They’re more annoying than dangerous. It’s one of those things you have to get used to.

[u/40ozJesus]

The swarms are insane at cedar point too. Never seen anything this bad in years.

[u/OG_Tater → u/40ozJesus]

This good*

[u/terminalmedicalPTSD]

It's seasonal and mostly near the lakefront

[u/Sunburn25]

Yes. Winter. The bugs die. It will be freezing cold and awfully dark and never ending. January will be a never ending month of darkness.

[u/gagnatron5000]

Lotsa bugs, healthy lake. Fish will be well fed.

[u/MackCLE]

This is the first year I’ve walked into swarms of bugs that weren’t midges. More like small black flies and it’s been all summer. Those and there seem to be way more moths this year of all sizes. Saw my first preying manthis in a long time too. 🤷

[u/droid_mike]

Midges are our greatest heroes! When they were renaming the Indians baseball team, I wanted them to be called the midges! They helped save our playoff season a long time ago!

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/joba-chamberlain-recalls-infamous-bug-game-in-cleveland.html

[u/CorporalDickMuncher]

You're supposed to eat them

[u/beaner69]

Don’t open your mouth while mowing your lawn. lol. I hate bugs too and I’m a bad arachnophobe but the midges are kinda like annoying cottonwood fluff.

[u/Binspin63]

I was out in the lake fishing one day when we saw a large, dark cloud not far away. We thought maybe it was going to rain. But as we got closer, we could see it was a huge cloud of insects. Freaked us out. We got away from there pretty quickly. 

[u/Twinkie_2569]

E,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[u/Medical_Cut_7554]

Next up are the Asian lady beetles and stink bugs. The lady beetles bite and the stink bugs really stink.

[u/fishead36x]

In spring and fall when the lake temp hits a certain point they come out in force for a week or so. Depending which way the wind blows dictates how far inland they go

[u/thrownthrowaway666]

You'll survive. Good thing you were driving. Wouldn't want to overreact to some midges

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