It happens every year: those annoying, white bugs that swarm in the fall.
They can be annoying, but they eventually just go away. The bugs are called smoky-winged ash aphids. Last week and over the weekend, especially in Coeur d’Alene we noticed, those bugs were everywhere.
Entomologist Richard Zack at Washington State University said the pesky creatures are right on schedule. We start to see them disappear by about Halloween, and they are most active during the warmest part of the day in the fall – mid to late afternoon.
All the activity you see of them swarming around is the females making their way to ash trees to lay their eggs.
If you are at the park and you see some ash-colored residue on the tree, that is what is left of the bugs, but the eggs will last through the winter.
Hopefully, we’re in the clear until next year!
UPDATE! Still here. pic.twitter.com/ChBgZJd2vR
— DaveSomers (@DaveSomers) October 26, 2017