Bugs as ‘big as hummingbirds’: What are these strange insects spotted on Lake Murray?
Just as the heat is sending more and more people out to the lake, residents at Lake Murray are reporting encounters with a more unwelcome visitor — swarms of unidentified insects.
Social media users report being struck by swarms of “tiny bugs that look like mosquitoes but they don’t bite” near the popular summertime Midlands destination. One Facebook post about the critters wracked up dozens of responses from people experiencing the same phenomenon.
“Every year and I haven’t found anything that keeps them away!” said one user in response to a question about who else had a problem with the insects. Another man reported being harassed near the Lake Murray dam by bugs as “big as hummingbirds,” while another described a horror movie-like scene of the creatures covering the windows of her home.
The consensus online is that the culprits are likely midges — tiny flying insects that can resemble mosquitoes and often congregate around bodies of water but don’t usually bite people.
Justin Ballew, who keeps track of the Midlands’ many winged inhabitants as the commercial fruit and vegetable agent for the Clemson Extension Service, agrees with the midge fly verdict.
“They look similar to mosquitoes, but they don’t have the mammal-feeding habit of mosquitoes,” Ballew said, adding, “the male mosquitoes don’t (bite) either,” just the females of the species.
The midges are often attracted to wet areas as well as lights, but they aren’t pests in the same way mosquitoes are, Ballew said.
But there are other potential culprits, the agent said, such as mayflies. There are also varieties of aquatic insects that spawn from the water during the summertime, like dragonflies and damselflies, that emerge around this time of year.
On Facebook, users suggest pest control can mitigate the midges. Bug spray or a fogger can repel the pests. Others suggest remedies such as cutting the grass low or just turning off exterior lights. One woman offered a home-brewed concoction in “a spray bottle with water and peppermint oil.”
Users said from their experience, not much can eliminate the flies entirely but that the critters don’t stick around very long.
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