“What are those tiny whiteflies all over Brooklyn?” “Amazed an incredulous New Yorker on social networks, Friday, June 30. The question is on everyone’s lips: since Wednesday evening, at nightfall, the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Manhattan have been invaded by a swarm of small flying insects. Videos are proliferating on social media. “You just can’t open your mouth while walking,” said one resident. The media Eyewitness News explains this surprising phenomenon.
Aphids: that’s the nature of invaders. As Jody Gangloff of Cornell University argues, aphids “are generally parthenogenetic, meaning that females give birth to females so that their populations, under the right environmental conditions, proliferate.”
Clouds of green gnats are taking over NYC. Here is what it looks like in Brooklyn right now.
However, in recent days, New York City has experienced rising temperatures as well as rain: a hot and humid climate conducive to the proliferation of aphids. The latter are not always winged, but as Jody Gangloff points out, “when their number reaches a certain threshold, the youngest develop wings so that they can fly away” and move to new “host plants”. Hence their presence in the New York air.
WHAT ARE THESE MINUSCULE WHITE FLIES ALL OVER BROOKLYN?! Not the best video- they’re much more obvious inperson. Literally can’t even open your mouth when walking. I’m not “nature-inclined” lol so forgive me if I should know what these are. Someone tell me more.��
The New York City Department of Health is reassuring, however, saying that “while they can be annoying, these insects pose no known danger to public health.”