The Bug Bloom :)

The 'Blooming of the Tisza" is quite an event each year, mid-June, in the European River of Tisza, Hungary. This natural phenomenon is the synchronized hatching of the Palingenia Longicauda Larvae (Long-Tailed Mayflies) and is an amazing tourist attraction. Oddly enough, after the Mayfly hatches and earns it's wings, it only has a few hours to mate before death :(.   Males fly frantically attempt to mate. Females fly up to two miles along the river to lay their eggs. The eggs sink to the bottom of the river and hatch in about 45 day.  Here they will stay for up to 3 years before hatching once again, this time with wings. It's almost as if they rise in huge clouds from the river then flutter on the surface of the water. The mating ritual lasts for three to four days. The insects can as large as 5 inches. The Mayflies are an aquatic animal and rarely leave the surface of the water. At the end of the day, masses of dead Mayflies cover the river. Roads and bridges by the water often need snow plowed :(.   Today, the Tisza River is the only place in which you can find the long-tailed Mayfly. A century ago, the insects flourished in Europe's lowland rivers. Unfortunately, water pollution and re-engineering of riverbanks destroyed the Mayfly's larvae.