Family films frightening sight of mayflies swarming gas station in Louisiana
SLIDELL, Lousiana (KTRK) -- A family in Louisiana filmed a frightening sight of mayflies swarming a gas station.
Heather Alas stopped at a gas station in Slidell on May 28 when she saw what looked like thousands of insects attached to gas pumps and flying around.
"Do not get gas," a child is heard saying in the backseat. "Look at those pumps. Oh my God!"
Alas drives slowly around the pumps to get a better look at the mayflies.
"I wouldn't touch that even for a $1 million," the child said.
Alas said when she went back to the gas station in the morning, the insects were still there.
In another video posted on social media, a couple is heard comforting a child who got scared of the skin-crawling sight of the mayflies.
"It's ok. They are not going to get you. They are outside," the woman is heard saying in the video.
According to https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/mayfly/, adult mayflies are very short-lived, surviving only one or two nights. During that time, the adults mate in swarms in the air. They are also attracted to lights.
Mayflies also develop in freshwater streams.
According to the Entomology Today website, to avoid smelling them, you can rub VapoRub under your nose.
