Residents of Aktobe are facing a massive invasion of midges, with the insects filling the city's streets and courtyards. Videos circulating on social media show swarms that look like entire clouds rather than individual groups, reports infohub.kz.
On Threads, a local resident under the handle @elya_dushumbaeva posted a video of such a swarm. The footage shows a whole cloud of insects swirling in a courtyard. She complained that they had literally filled the entire space around her home.
The video quickly spread across social media. Some users initially didn't even understand what was happening. At first glance, it might seem like snow or rain is falling in the footage.
"I thought it was snow," "Crazy, you can't even leave the house," "Does anyone know what this even is?", "Why are there so many of them?", "Where are our dragonflies, birds, and frogs?", "Soon we'll only go outside in gas masks and special suits," commenters write.
It's worth noting that a large number of midges is not unusual for Aktobe. Warm weather and high humidity create favorable conditions for their reproduction. In mid-September, locals had already complained about swarms of insects that flew into their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths, and stuck to their clothes. At that time, the akimat reported that pest control was being carried out in the city.
While warm weather persists in the city, midges continue to actively reproduce. But with the slightest cold snap, such swarms usually die off. So for now, residents can only wait for colder weather and hope that utility services will manage to treat the areas.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle wrote that Almaty also experienced a midge invasion in mid-summer. City residents on social media also couldn't understand why there were so many insects. At that time, we found out what, according to scientists from the Kazakh Research Institute of Plant Protection and Quarantine, was behind the mass "hatching" of midges.