Insect Hatch!

Last week I was talking to some of my friends from home and they asked me if I had any crazy bug stories to share.  Believe me, I have quite a few, but their question reminded me of some photos I had taken to share on my blog of a memorable bug experience. 

Insect hatches come in waves.  Sometimes there will be no bugs swarming around our outside light at night and sometimes there will be millions.  Usually after it rains there are a lot.  Around this time of year flying ants hatch by the thousands.  They are actually an important part of the Mozambican diet as they contain a lot of protein.  People fry them up and sell them at markets.  I tried some the other day—not too bad actually.  I wouldn’t really seek them out, but now I can say I’ve eaten fried ants and I don't blame anyone here who eats them to get some very necessary protein.  Xima (corn meal porridge) all day every day just doesn't cut it.

Anyway, we’ve had these flying ants outside flying around our light before, but a few weeks ago we had more than I’ve ever seen.  They were literally swarming.  I had to go outside to lock up for the night and it was like stepping into one of those wind machines where they blow money around and you have to try to catch as many bills as you can.  Except instead of money flying around, it was flying ants.  Luckily they don’t bite, so all I had to do was keep myself from freaking out.  Every time we opened the door they would fly in to our inside lights as well so even though we tried to avoid it, we soon had a bunch inside out house too.  This is when Emma got the Bay-Gon bug killer and zapped them. The next morning thousands of these ant carcasses littered the veranda.  Actually, they weren’t really carcasses.  I guess the ants lose their wings overnight and turn into little larvae wormy things.  So there were millions of shed insect wings and a bunch of wriggling larvae.  I swept them up—or tried to since the wings just kind of flew around everywhere--and dumped them over the porch.  Bad move.  All the half-dead larvae bodies quickly started to decompose, started to smell, and attracted a million flies.  For a few days I couldn’t comfortably sit on the veranda because of the smell and the swarms of flies.  So now I know not to dump all the bug bodies over the veranda—next time, I’ll dump them in the trash pit.

All the bugs flying around our porch light.

Emma getting them with the Bay-Gon

The next morning.  It doesn't look like all that much here, but when I piled it up it was about a 1 foot square pile.

This is a pile from a different day--not nearly as many.

The shed wings.

The wings are actually really soft when they are all in a pile...I was surprised! Like a really soft blanket, but as light as air.