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The
clouds of buzzing insects, whose migration through the Las Vegas
Valley scientists say is the result of a wetter-than- normal
winter, were big enough that the National Weather Service
detected them on its radar.
"Radar analysis suggests most of these echoes are biological
targets. This typically includes birds, bats, and bugs, and most
likely in our case...grasshoppers," the National Weather Service
in Las Vegas said on Friday on Twitter.
Such migrations occur every few years and should not cause alarm
since the insects are not dangerous, Jeff Knight, state
entomologist for the Nevada Department of Agriculture, said on
Thursday at a news conference.
Some locals were not placated.
"This is the wildest thing in nature I've ever seen," one
resident, Caitlin Sparks, wrote on Twitter on Sunday, posting a
photograph of a street lamp illuminating a night sky filled with
grasshoppers.
Attracted to ultra-violet light, the insects have been
clustering around the city's brightly lit tourist district, a
concentration of resort hotels and casinos along The Strip. The
Luxor Sky Beam, a pillar of light that rises from the Luxor
Hotel, has attracted huge swarms at night, according to videos
posted to Twitter.
The Best Western Plus Casino Royale on the Strip shut off its
lights on Friday and Saturday to avoid attracting the bugs, the
Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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