A ‘zillion’ bugs emerge after Hamilton’s heavy rainfall

Have you noticed strange sounds of electricity buzzing near your home recently?

Before you call your hydro provider to investigate, look in the air - you most likely hear the sounds of midges, the latest insect to see a boom in their population size.

Dozens of people, mostly from the lower city, responded to a question posed on the Hamilton Reddit page, r/Hamilton, asking if anyone else is noticing an emergence of bugs in the area.

Welcome to midge season," one user wrote.

The recent heavy rain, which caused an equipment failure at Hamilton's water treatment plant resulting in more than 350 million litres of untreated and partly treated sewage being released into Red Hill Creek, provided the perfect conditions for the larvae to mature to adulthood.

Midge larvae love moisture, said Marvin Gunderman, a retired instructor of entomology at McMaster University. And once their needs are met to emerge from their cocoons, you've got a zillion adults," he said.

These true flies," of the family Chironomidae, are semi- or full-aquatic, and often call ponds and streams their homes, though they're known to fly up to a kilometre away to live on wet lawns, which explains the invasion of them on residential properties.

They often serve as a food source for other water-dwelling creatures like insects and tadpoles, Gunderman said. These winged bugs, unlike bloodthirsty mosquitoes, which are also seeing a boom in their population, are harmless, he added.

Similar to the surge in flying ants noted last month, these midges are on mating flights of their own, though their love affairs are doomed once the temperature dips.

But that doesn't mean all of the midges will disappear. They prefer warm conditions and may make their way into your home to survive the winter before they re-emerge outdoors in the spring, Gunderman said.

If bugs aren't your cup of tea, it may be wise to keep a fly swatter nearby for the next few days - or you can be like Gunderman, who prefers the catch-and-release method" but sometimes lets them become his new roommates.

Alessia Passafiume is an intern reporter with The Spectator. Reach her via email: apassafiume@thespec.com