Insects near Belle Isle East Jefferson

**Jowlska** · June-22-11, 04:51 PM

I was at a BP gas station near Tim Horton's on East Jeffterson and there were bugs crawling all over the pumps and the building. The bugs were flying around and crawling on nearby apartments. Did anyone else see this today? I've seen cicadas in St. Louis before, but didn't think Michigan had them. Are these cicadas?

**Detroitnerd** · June-22-11, 04:54 PM

Mayflies are in force this week.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayfly

**Jowlska** · June-22-11, 05:08 PM

Thank you.

**Detroitej72** · June-22-11, 05:19 PM

Ah, the fishflies are coming!

**MidTownMs** · June-22-11, 05:30 PM

They are fishflies...they come this time every year...when I was a kid living on the riverfront we called them June Bugs.

**EastsideAl** · June-22-11, 06:29 PM

They're just part of living on the east side, and will go away in a few days, leaving only their lovely carcasses behind.

The increasing number of bugs, back towards the swarms I remember from when I was a kid, is actually a sign of the improved cleanliness of our river and the increasing health of the Great Lakes ecosystem

**Django** · June-22-11, 06:36 PM

I was at the party store next door to the BP at the BI bridge two nights ago, It was almost creepy how many bugs were there. In the store flying around, outside covering everything. Almost biblical.

In Peru I saw bugs, beetle type, the size of small robin. They sold them dead under glass, framed.

**ja!mz** · June-22-11, 07:11 PM

I grew up in St Clair shores, a childhood ritual was dealing with fish flies..we used to throw them against walls to hear them make a snapping sound, or put one in a box and see a new one with the old skin in a couple days.....

**jackie5275** · June-22-11, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

They're just part of living on the east side

And downriver too!

**gnome** · June-22-11, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

The increasing number of bugs, back towards the swarms I remember from when I was a kid, is actually a sign of the improved cleanliness of our river and the increasing health of the Great Lakes ecosystem

Our new cleaner water is due to those pesky zebra mussels. They filter out silt and leave the water clear; however, that also leads to those alge blooms, and ecoli outbreaks, when sunlight interacts with whatever Macomb flushes. Kind of a good news bad news story.

**izzyindetroit** · June-22-11, 09:36 PM

**East Detroit** · June-22-11, 11:12 PM

When someone says "Mayfly", I expect to also hear them say "Soda" and "U of M" in the same conversation.

**kryptonite** · June-23-11, 07:02 AM

In SE Michigan they are primarily called Fish Flies. In other parts of the Great Lakes a lot of people call them Mayflies. In the South I have heard them referred to as Willow Flies.

Whatever, better them than *#@!ing mosquitoes.

**WKL** · June-23-11, 10:49 AM

I used have sweep those things off the front windows and sidewalk of the Kresge over on E. Warren and Outer Dr. when I worked there during high school. They did sweep all that easy with a push broom.

When I took my wife [[a California native) back to Michigan she didn't know what to make of the car getting splattered as we drove under each street light on Jeffereson in SCS. Sound like we where driving through a hail storm.

DetroitPole · June-23-11, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by ja!mz

I grew up in St Clair shores, a childhood ritual was dealing with fish flies..we used to throw them against walls to hear them make a snapping sound, or put one in a box and see a new one with the old skin in a couple days.....

We made Lego houses for them. They didn't seem to care.

To this day, I think they're interesting. They don't eat, bite, or poop, or really do anything, so I'm okay with them.

**Gistok** · June-23-11, 12:59 PM

Never EVER go on a motorcycle down Lakeshore Drive in the Grosse Pointes at night during Fish Fly season... you will be disgusted... especially if you open your mouth or start to talk with a passenger....

**401don** · June-23-11, 03:29 PM

I remember at our cottage on Lake Erie many moons ago waking up and not being able to see out any of the windows because they were totally covered with them. They would come in off the lake at night and you'd spend the next morning sweeping them into piles.

**SaintMe** · June-23-11, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by 401don

I remember at our cottage on Lake Erie many moons ago waking up and not being able to see out any of the windows because they were totally covered with them. They would come in off the lake at night and you'd spend the next morning sweeping them into piles.

That sounds absolutely mortifying