Bugnadoes Filmed Above Flooded Cornfield in Iowa
Posted on August 18, 2011
Storm chaser and photographer Mike Hollingshead captured tornado-shaped masses of bugs in southwestern Iowa following flooding along the Missouri River. These giant swirling masses of bugs could ruin a picnic in seconds. Hollingshead says in his YouTube video description that dragonflies were flying through the bug vortexes and eating the tiny bugs.
Joe Kieper, an entomologist and executive director of the Virginia Museum of Natural History, says the bugs in the bugnadoes are likely magflies or midges. The bugs are in a final mass mating frenzy before they die. The amount of bugs in the swirling swarms was greatly amplified because of the flood waters.
Kieper told NPR, "Fortunately, they really don't do us much harm [though] they can be a nuisance. You don't want to ride your motorcycle down the road through them with your mouth open."
Take a look: