14 DAY TRIAL // Unleashing thousands of cicadas on the eastern US coast simply isn't enough, Mother Nature seems to think. Hence its also sending an army of Formosan termites to New Orleans.
The termites hit this city in the state of Louisiana this past Wednesday night and apparently scared the life out of most people. Or at least seriously grossed them out.
The Inquisitr reports that the termites stayed true to the rules and regulations governing most insects' behavior, and made their way towards bright and well-lit devices.
To put it bluntly: they proved fiercely attracted to street lights, car headlights and whatever lamps chanced to be lit up inside homes.
Specialists explain that, according to their estimates, this swarm of Formosan termites was supposed to make its appearance towards the beginning of May.
What kept them from doing so was the lower-than-average temperatures reported in this part of the US during the past few weeks.
They also say that, as icky as this insect invasion might have been, the termites were simply out looking for a mate and therefore did not constitute a threat to people in New Orleans.
By the looks of it, a Formosan colony takes about five years before it numbers enough winged-individuals to put on such a show.
Once out of their hiding places, individual colonies get together and each insect does its best to mate and secure the birth of a new generation.
It sometimes happens that as many as 5 million termites come to form a single swarm.
Since the average termite can only fly for about 300 yards before it falls to the ground and dies, nobody can really blame them for their urgency.
The same source informs us that this species of termites reached the US at some point during World War II, when they were brought here all the way from the Far East by people transporting crates and other wooden products.