CLEVELAND — They’re back. Millions of mayflies hatched near the Lake Erie Islands, and a swarm of flies showed up on the Power of 5 radar.
News 5 photojournalist Mike Vielhaber found some mayflies hanging out in Eastlake.
We warned you.
The mayflies are flying east toward Euclid and Painesville.
When the water temps start warming closer to 60 degrees, which it's doing in the western basin of Lake Erie, the mayflies start swarming. The larvae, or bloodworms, have been there for weeks. It's the warmth, though, that brings them to the surface. Next step in the midge life cycle is reproduction.
While mayflies are a nuisance, they are harmless.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, there are more than 2,500 species of mayflies worldwide and about 700 in the United States. Adult mayflies’ lifespans are very short, lasting usually only several days.
FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary Ohio Edison is working with local cities to keep roads along the lakeshore safe by temporarily turning off streetlights to deter swarms of flies.
Mayflies are attracted to streetlights and can create hazardous driving conditions when large numbers accumulate along roads and bridges near the lights, the company said.
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