Extreme temperatures, high winds and sudden dust storms are common and expected out on the playa in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. No clue if Burners have a sense of humor or what but maybe if nothing else, green creepy-crawlies can provide some costume-inspo for Burning Man 2016? The exact reason bugs are showing up in waves isn’t known, but pests are one of those things that follow humans wherever they go. The critters might have just hatched or possibly ridden along with construction materials. Swarms of smelly, revolting bugs of different shapes and sizes are filling up Burning Man and fans are snapping pictures before bolting.
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What would attract these stinky little creatures?
Whatever the cause of the plague, in a story titled “Burning Man’s stinkbugs may leave before festival starts” on the USA Today website, reporter Jenny Kane brings reassurance from Nevada Department of Agriculture state entomologist Jeff Knight. Landing occasionally upon people they may seek moisture by inserting their proboscis into the skin – i.e. they bite and can be rather annoying!
Images on the Burning Man blog and on social media show swarms of critters in the area. Although Curley reports that the two leading theories are that larvae were accidentally tracked in by a burner or that heavy spring rains woke the seed bugs from hibernation out of season, it’s possible that the pesky insects are roving through the area looking for food. The recent rains might be behind the infestation.
The festival, which will officially commence on August 30 and run through September 7, might not experience the same level of infestation.
“We will notify participants of any concerns next week before everyone begins traveling to the event”, promised Jim Graham, Burning Man spokesman. “They get up and in you”, the organizer, John Curley, wrote on the festival’s official blog.
We asked entomologist and insect photographer Alex Wild what the bugs really are.
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Burning Man bugs are tiny but bite. Some say the bugs are everywhere and they look like a cross between winged ants and stink bugs. That means you’re likely going to see a lot of people opening up their bags when they get back home and finding some unexpected stowaways who could potentially carry infectious diseases and introduce a new epidemic in a community.
