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Tiny, winged insects swarm New York City

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Welcome to the Bug Apple!

A swarm of tiny, winged insects has taken over New York City — with New Yorkers likening the infestation to a biblical plague.

Videos of the bugs shared on social media Thursday show hundreds of the minuscule green critters buzzing through the evening air.

“Clouds of green gnats are taking over NYC,” one Twitter user wrote alongside a clip of the flying critters.

“These swarms of bugs are taking over the city. They are in the subway platform too,” another shared.

Some observers joked that the arrival of the insects at the same time as the return of the smoke haze from the Canadian wildfires hinted at a sinister end for the Big Apple.

Clouds of green ‘gnat-like insects’ are taking over NYC. Matthew McDermott

“NYC is swarmed by bugs right now and the sky looks wild. The end is nigh,” reporter John Haltiwanger tweeted with a photo of a peculiarly orange sun setting over the skyline.

“Floods, raining ash, and a swarm of insects… New York 3/10 on the biblical plague sh-t right now,” another New Yorker tweeted.

But the critters are just harmless aphids — and nothing to bug out over, according to entomologists.

Aphids are a non-stinging, common garden insect that feed on plant sap — and are a sign of a “healthy environment,” not a Biblical end, according to David Grimaldi, a curator and entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History.

Many New Yorkers are taking to social media to share their experiences with the gnats. Twitter / @jerm_cohen

“When a population becomes very large … the emergence of winged morphs is impressive,” Grimaldi told The City Friday.

“The good news? It means we have a healthy environment! No pesticides!”

Dr. Corrie Moreau of Cornell University told the New York Times that the sudden aphid onslaught is “unusual” but a result of the weather.

“It is unusual that there are so many of these aphids swarming this year,” adding that it is “because of the mild winter.”

The New York area’s balmy winter and rainy spring have allowed for the proliferation of moist flowers and plants — which has gotten the aphids feeling buzzed about the mating season.

“It increases the probability that they are going to be highly successful,” she told the outlet of the abundance of flora.

Moreau also shot down theories that the bugs were connected to the wildfire smoke.

“I think that the smoke is amplifying our ability to see them well,” the scientist explained.

WHAT ARE THESE MINUSCULE WHITE FLIES ALL OVER BROOKLYN?! Not the best video- they’re much more obvious inperson. Literally can’t even open your mouth when walking. I’m not “nature-inclined” lol so forgive me if I should know what these are. Someone tell me more.🤬 #NYC #BK #bugs pic.twitter.com/5d4Grw4tuD

— Kai (@marialens_) June 29, 2023

But perhaps the most welcome news to New Yorkers is that the cloud of insects won’t be hanging around for long.

“We have just entered some sustainably warm summer temps and I would guess that this has triggered a mass migration of winged aphids. Like most things, this will stop as quickly as it started,” Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, of the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program at Cornell University, told The City.

Still, it wasn’t the start to summer that most people hoped for.

“A plague of gnats wasn’t something I had on my NYC summer misery bingo card,” one resident summed up.

Aphids are a non-stinging, common garden insect that feed on plant sap. Matthew McDermott

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Sebrina Pilcher

Update: 2024-04-25