Swarms of bugs were spotted across Connecticut after Tuesday night’s storms and experts say the reason appears to be the annual mating ritual for a species commonly known as “Labor Day Ants.”
Swarms of bugs were spotted across Connecticut after Tuesday night's storms and experts say the reason appears to be the annual mating ritual for a species commonly known as “Labor Day Ants.”
One Monroe resident, Kimberly Maiden Jacovino, said her home has been "bombarded by a zillion" bugs that look like gnats.
"Everyone (is) complaining of the problem," Jacovino wrote to NBC Connecticut. "Putting plastic over their windows. Taping their windows."
Swarms of bugs have been seen in several parts of the state, including South Windsor, Manchester, Berlin, Cheshire, Wallingford, West Hartford, Southington, Seymour and Litchfield, just to name some towns.
"Total invasion in Cheshire," one viewer wrote to NBC Connecticut on Facebook.
Another viewer said she tried rolling down her car window in Newington but the bugs were too intense.
"They were everywhere!," she wrote on Facebook.
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NBC Connecticut reached out to a bug expert at UConn, who said the bugs appear to be winged ants coming above ground to mate.
Male and female ants will develop wings for travel and come up for mating, then the females fly off to start a new colony.
