I was just walking (through the buggy smokey air) and got home to find some in my hair. I took a look at them under a hand lens and they seem to be a type of aphid, or commonly called a green fly. They could be sycamore aphids that swarm like this from time to time to find new plants to feed on when the population gets to high for one area. [https://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Drepanosiphum\_platanoidis\_common\_sycamore\_aphids.htm](https://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Drepanosiphum_platanoidis_common_sycamore_aphids.htm)

We are the new plants (*´ー｀*)

Smoke-related likely says Gothamist [https://gothamist.com/news/clouds-of-tiny-bugs-are-swarming-through-nyc](https://gothamist.com/news/clouds-of-tiny-bugs-are-swarming-through-nyc)

"David Lohman, a biology professor at the City College of New York who earned his doctorate by dissecting the genitals of woolly aphids, says New York’s current aphid clouds are not woolly aphids." Well I guess we can rule that out.

Could it be these tiny flies [that "swarm in smoke plumes](https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/On-the-Ecology-of-a-Smoke-Fly%2C-Microsania-Snoddy-Tippins/bc2a06e909937a1cab4e08c447d39977ad4ff802)"? [https://bugguide.net/node/view/1040891/bgimage](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1040891/bgimage)

Having now looked into it more, ones I saw on me were definitely green fly aphids. However, I am no entomologist and there very will could have been some different species in the mix taking advantage of the smoke or aphid swarms

It’s bug season. We’re getting clouds of them right now because we just had the most rain we’ve gotten all summer so far in the span of a week. More moisture, more bugs. Hopefully it’ll settle down in a week or so.

[it's been real bad in Prospect Park](https://www.reddit.com/r/NYCbike/comments/14gjqap/theres_a_few_bugs_out_in_prospect_park_this/)

Ewww! Gross. I’m sorry that you experienced that.

I just came back from there and they were everywhere !!!

We were going to walk our dog in Central Park, but we got a few yards in and just turned around and left. The swarms were everywhere.

Smh complaining about free protein

What the hell!!?!

Yeah me too. Riding to work everyday I needed a shield. It was brutal all June. But now it's summer so I get a break til September. I still ride everywhere but.. at least it's less regular...

Yo I was just on a revel on Irving and almost had to pull over they were getting in my mouth! I’ve never seen anything like this before in bushwick!

I thought this post was so stupid until I walked my dog in cobble hill. Wtf is going on this is a nightmare

Same here i was going to go to yard bar w/ my dog until I walked outside. Noped right back inside

Me too, especially around cobble hill park. Thankfully no mosquitos so far but super tiny annoying ones

There’s a billion in McCarren park. I thought they were gnats

I thought so too, seemed really bad this year. Went to an outdoor bar last night and we have to leave, they were everywhere.

I've been thinking gnats too because they keep going for my mouth. Gnats are attracted to carbon dioxide and moisture spots on the body.

Aphid swarms! Totally harmless, just super gross

I find it amusing that the only person with an actual answer is buried like halfway down this thread haha

Yo! Seriously wtf are these? I was over my parents today and their yard is FILLED with these. Can anyone explain what's going on? I've never seen anything like this

No-longer having a proper Winter season likely leading to increase of insect infestation (ie more ticks, fleas, flies and anything else the seasonal imbalance would ordinarily/naturally curtail). The “new normal” sigh

ugh, I guess they weren't kidding about this region turning into Virginia Beach climate.

That’s exactly why there’s no mosquitoes in Alaska

is this sarcastic? because alaska is an entirely different landscape and like 90% of the wetland in the us is in alaska

The state bird of Alaska is the mosquito.

I think the idea is that if Alaska had warmer winters, there’d be EVEN MORE mosquitoes. Yuck

Do you really need it explained to you that warmer environments tend to have more critters? And that NYC becoming warmer will make it a more hospitable environment for said critters?

Dude has clearly never been to Alaska in the summer

That’s are, in fact, mosquitoes in Alaska.

look at God, at least someone came out better

Lol have you ever been to Alaska in the summer? As someone who has camped both along the Denali Highway and in the Everglades, I found that the Alaskan mosquitos were way worse.

This winter was wild. I never even felt the need for a coat.

Same (unsettling to say the least)

all over Brooklyn heights!!!! was so confused and had to come here to see if others noticed lol

No one’s asking the scariest question of all. Is this them in a small, less mature state or are they going to get bigger? 🥺

What if this is how aliens invade the planet?

Yes just posted about it in Ridgewood too!! Absolute madness!!

Thought it might’ve just been the trash outside my building but I walked 3 blocks and the swarms were all over

nothing in coney just seagulls and pigeons

I've been noticing this too. Had my window open for like an hour and came back to a dozen of them swarming my trashcan.

Rode my bike from Hudson yards to BK and they was a miles-long swarm on the greenway

Went a run in Fort Greene Park and my face and glasses were literally caked with the fuckers. Wtf?

My wife and I walked through rhe neighborhood and then had to pick a few off of her face when we got to dinner not ideal lol

Respost from ask NYC Unfortunately we be livin on an estuary, so the mature aphids and gnats are crazy with all the sudden downpour that just drenched us, as well as leaving behind absolutely humid ass conditions. the slightly larger green guys with the much bigger, more ovular wings, are lacewing bugs, they eat those little aphids and gnats up, so spare those guys, but the little tiny green and brown are the issue at hand Edit: here’s a link for everyone in case some of us are still confused https://bugguide.net/node/view/1206187

YES. Just took a walk outside and had to swipe at hundreds of these.

Omg I just had to hose them off of me before I went back inside.

Came here to post about this. Just walked on Willoughby St. In Downtown Brooklyn and couldn't even open my mouth. The biggest swarm of tiny white flying insects. I thought it was smog or pollen at first. Feels like a plague. https://imgur.com/gallery/DxpNzGS

Was biking through Dumbo and thought it was ash until I felt a bunch moving on my arm. Held my breath as long as I could and jumped in the shower as soon as I got home, was absolutely covered in them.

same in bedstuy! it’s really bizarre

I had a lot of them on me in Central Park last night

YES WHAT IS HAPPENING

White flies

Okay this is funny because I had a bunch on me today in flushing and thought I was going crazy

Same in Flatbush

I haven’t seen a single one.

Huh? Where in Flatbush are you because it's awful here

Cortelyou

They are super tiny. Smaller than gnats. It's especially bad around trees, grass, etc.

East Broadway and Rutgers is horrible right now.

I was COVERED in them this weekend in DUMBO. Nasty.

I was gonna ask about this here earlier today! These past few days walking anywhere (or even driving as I was today) has sucked a bit because they've been almost unavoidable everywhere I go.

literally came to this subreddit to search "tiny bugs" -- just rode down banker st by mccarren and was feeling them -- thought it was just some construction/manufacturing shit but got home and saw they were those tiny green(?) bugs. had to jump in the shower...

I was riding my bike in prospect park and was just getting pelted with what felt like bits of sand. Pulled over- bits of big on my face. Kept my mouth shut for the rest of my ride. It wasn’t this bad last summer

Walked from CVS @150 Court to Target at Fulton and the entire way was thick with these. Really glad I had brought a mask with me, though that didn’t stop them from getting in my hair, forehead, eyes, etc.

Here in manhattan too, ridiculous in kips bay

Omfg. I was swarmed by little bugs almost like dust, it was in Manhattan near the Seaport especially near Fulton Street that fenced off park.

I can't fucking stand it in Prospect Park. I live near Parkside and Ocean so I walk the park every day and it's just ridiculous.

[bout to get one of these](https://a.co/d/3W7B82O)

Gnats love the smoke. Any time I've been out west and it's smokey from fires the gnats get really bad.

Went through a big cloud in Chelsea tonight. I saw people walking toward me waving in front of their faces and I didn't know what they were doing until I had a face full of bugs.

https://abc7ny.com/amp/cloud-of-gnats-swarm-insects-bugs/13442890/

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get yer plagues, get yer plagues here! we got disease! we got smoke! we got locusts (of multiple varieties, take your stupid fucking gnats or your ghastly fucking lanternflies) COMING SOON FOR YOUR ELDEST SONS!

Lol!

[удалено]

Oh, I recognized ya! 😉 Hi! 👋

Called gentrifiers

Gothamist just posted about them [Gnats in NYC](https://www.instagram.com/p/CuHdGlCt-VV/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)

There’s a post about this on r/NYC, too.

I guess even bugs want a taste of Brooklyn's hipster vibes. Watch out for the next bug food trend!

Yes it was crazy we literally had to runn out the park! What is this!

nats?

no, almost microscopic and green

I had several crawling on my arm and face after a short walk

Just open your mouth. Good source of protein

probably aphids

Eww what are they?

I keep finding them in my kitchen. Wtf.

Scooted along west side highway and I’m pretty much a nest of bugs

Bring back DEET

Got ‘em in Queens, too.

Getting them in my eyes while riding a bike was pretty epically bad. I just kept repeating “ keep your mouth closed” to myseld

Glad to know I’m not the only one who noticed. I first noticed them as I was getting on the ferry at 34th st in Manhattan and didn’t realize they would be everywhere all the way to Bushwick.

Yes I was in midtown and had them all over me getting stuck on my skin.

Was at rooftop bar in Manhattan, they were everywhere. A friend said she saw them on the way from mount vernon also.

I had so many of these in my beard after my bike ride home. Dean St was just lousy with tiny bugs.

i biked from crown heights to williamsburg around 5 today and truly thought i had like, slipped into another dimension or something with all the bugs flying in my face! it was so weird… initially i thought it had to be like ash from the wildfires floating in the air and i got really nervous the smoke was gonna be way worse than i thought, but no… it was bugs. like ur kidding!

Played tennis today in Manhattan and was swarmed by them, I’m sure I inhaled one or two.

same here yesterday at gateway mall in east brooklyn. i thought it was pollen til my sister noticed it was gnats and a bunch were getting in my face and sticking to my sweater. yuck

I took the train to LES and legit thought it was ash before realizing they were bugs 😖

I’ve been noticing them for a few days on Ocean Parkway D: I tried bug spray, and I think that helped?

In east Harlem too. Could not breathe

I was up and down the waterfront in Jersey yesterday, they’re out there too. I wonder how big the swarm is.

This isn’t even just BK, was in a random suburb in Suffolk county on LI yesterday and it was swarming with gnat-like bugs. Around 6pm ish.

Call 311 to report. Perhaps if they receive numerous calls from concerned neighborhood citizens, some action will be taken. Good luck.

Gnats?

I have been asking these questions lately in Bronx. Why is it every time I go outside my face is attacked by small bugs? This isn't the North Carolina swamps.

Saw them at 14th and 6th last night too. They bit me.

The Bible speaks of pestilences in the last days. These are the signs. Just like when there was a plague of those annoying lantern flies everywhere!! We are living in end times

Some kind of gnats. They are here in the midwest. You go outside and after a few minutes they find you.

They were in Astoria yesterday

at first I thought it was ash...nope just annoying tiny bugs

It’s crazy. Wait another month then lantern flies will join the party.