Two cities on opposite sides of Russia have been invaded by insects with apocalyptic scenes being shared on social media.
Residents and visitors of the port city of Taganrog on the Sea of Azov were irritated by non-biting “blind mosquitoes” this month.
The gnats can cause breathing difficulties and leave behind a slippery layer on roads and sidewalks. Known as Chironomidae, the flies live from two to five days.
Footage filmed by tourist Mikhail Shimov and shared with Reuters showed a woman slipping and a car swerving on top of a thick layer of the “blind mosquitoes.”
In the Far East republic of Sakha, thousands of bugs known as water boatmen were seen “raining down” from the sky this week.
Environmental authorities later noted that the region lies in the migration path of the aquatic insects.
“There were cases in 1917-1920 when many Corixidae bugs flew toward the light at night and fell to the ground like rain,” they explained, adding that a similar phenomenon took place in 1994.
Reuters contributed reporting to this article.
