[chris]

A mass emergence of burrowing mayflies occurred in Hastings, Minnesota, in 1957, covering a car and piling into deep drifts near the Mississippi River crossing. The insects, commonly called fish flies in the upper Mississippi region, coated the vehicle's hood, roof and windows and filled the surrounding air.

Cars stalled or skidded on the bridge as crushed insects made the roadway slick, creating a backup reported to stretch about a mile. Police and firefighters were called, and highway crews brought in sanders. Hastings has experienced recurring mayfly swarms, with 1959 recorded as the city's worst year for the insects.

[Jere]

being from minnesota i can tell you theres some strange things on land and in our lakes...

[Faline]

[kellyhound]

[Sharon]

Caught in a fish-tailback

[candice81]

wtf is a fish flie?

[K-Blast]

Originally Posted by candice81 ↗

wtf is a fish flie?

do you know what a dobsonfly is? fishflies are related to them.

[gatagato]

Article from The Hastings Gazette, July 25, 1957

Those are bugs, or fish flies if you will- piles and piles of ‘em in the most infamous battle of bugs in Hastings history. They stalled cars which, like the auto above, skidded sideways on the bridge.

And the cars, stalled just as surely as if they were in snow drifts instead of bug drifts bottled up fish-fly fidgety motorists for at least a mile back of the bridge.

The cops were called. The Fire Department was called. State highway sanders were useless against the combined efforts of the millions of fish flies who piled up their little bodies against all human efforts. Meanwhile the deck of the bridge became as slippery and slimy as grease, stalling cars that had to be moved to release the motorists stalled and steaming in cars with all windows closed against the bugs.

For over an hour a group of strong-backed youths, who volunteered their help, pushed and tugged cars through the 2 1/2 ft. bug-drift in the center of the bridge. Some were members of the very commendable teenager Cavalier Auto Club, supported by the Greater Hastings Association. The young men did a terrific job, some wearing bathing trunks, as they waded through the piles of bugs to help motorists. They pushed, advised, sweated with flies in ears, mouths, eyes. Look at those spots in front of the camera lens. They’re bugs…. stacked up on the car hood, piled up in drifts. How prolific-the hatch was terrific.

http://historyofhastings.areavoices....-bugs-in-1957/

[corpsehands]

What the flying fuck. Break out the flame thrower

[Oswald2001]

I'll bet the fish loved it.