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"Giant 'Bugnado' Swarms In America's Heartland"

"In the American Corn Belt this year, the weather has already felt apocalyptic at times. In the last six months, the Midwest has seen record-breaking floods, devastating twisters, unseasonable cold snaps and late heat waves. Now, add insect swarms to these forces of nature."



"Last month, a cloud of insects the size of a tornado swept across flooded corn fields in Iowa. The eerie, vortex shape earned it the name "Bugnado." A video on YouTube claims to show the bug swarms in action.

The phenomenon caught the attention of Joe Keiper, an entomologist at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. He told Weekend Edition Saturday guest host Jacki Lyden that the aquatic insects, known as midges, are relatively harmless and not biblical, crop-destroying creatures."

NPR had the story August 20, 2011.

Source: NPR, 08/22/2011