Las Vegas residents have reported sightings of grasshoppers flying around the city, causing quite a scare for many.
Locals have said they have seen “swarms” of flying insects around the city, reminiscent of the mass grasshopper invasion of 2019.
Asher Lewis, a Las Vegas native who spotted the buzzing, creepy crawlies, said, “I see them everywhere.” I don’t know how often they come or how long it’s been happening. But this is the third time I’ve seen them.
‘2019 was unpleasant. So when I saw them for a few days I thought they would come back.’
While Jeff Knight, an entomologist with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, previously confirmed in an interview that the insects do not transmit any diseases or bite people, many remain terrified after the pre-pandemic infestation.
He said 8NewsNow That bugs tend to catch you off guard when driving around town and you saw hundreds of them on the way home late at night in the Central Valley.
Another Las Vegas native passing by @gottagosoon in
‘Oh my God. Tonight I went out barefoot to let my dog pee. It turns out that the grasshoppers arrived an hour ago. I can’t bear to describe the sounds/feelings. I love #lasvegas summers.’
While Jeff Knight, an entomologist with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, previously confirmed in a interview Although the insects do not transmit any disease or bite people, many remain terrified after the pre-pandemic infestation.
In mid-July 2019, people in Las Vegas began to notice grasshoppers filling the air at night.
Las Vegas residents have reported sightings of grasshoppers flying around the city, causing quite a scare for many.
Each day, the numbers grew, peaking on July 27 at a disconcerting size that locals called “the great grasshopper invasion of 2019.”
To learn more about grasshopper night, researchers obtained data from weather stations around Las Vegas and from the archives of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They observed a storm-like cloud appearing on radar screens around and over the city of Las Vegas.
Radar data (the size and density of the clouds) and grasshopper data (their average size and weight) were used to calculate the number of grasshoppers that appeared that night.
Residents have noticed the bugs along the strip and in other parts of Nevada City, but experts said people should not be alarmed by their presence.
Asher Lewis, a Las Vegas native who spotted the buzzing, creepy crawlies, said, “I see them everywhere.” I don’t know how often they come or how long it’s been going on.
The data showed that on the peak night, the number of grasshoppers was approximately 46 million, which, the researchers note, would weigh approximately 30 tons.
It also showed that the densest clouds of grasshoppers were concentrated in the brightest parts of the city.
Las Vegas is known for its huge, bright neon signs that attract visitors and their money. In this case, however, it appears that the bright lights attracted the grasshoppers.
It’s still unclear why the insects accumulated in such numbers on that fateful night, but local weather reporters noted that the previous winter had been unusually wet.
The researchers noticed that the insects seemed to arrive in the city during daylight hours, landing and perching on all available surfaces; It was only after the sun set and the bright lights came on that the grasshoppers took to the sky.
They concluded that such grasshopper behavior is ample evidence of the impact that artificial lighting can have on insect behavior.