Local news
Reports from across the city flooded social media about the bizarre sightings.
Winged carpenter ant close-up
Boston residents were caught up in a mating frenzy of flying ants on Monday night.
On social media, people posted accounts of cars covered in bugs, stuck in their hair, up their noses and stuck in their dogs’ fur.
Universal hub first reported on the ant swarm. People reported the ants in Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Dedham.
According to meteorologist Dave Epstein, this season’s heat and humidity kicked off the ants’ annual mating ritual, which explains their rambanctious behavior.
In Jamaica Plain, one resident wrote further Reddit that people were chased back into their homes because you couldn’t walk around without getting them in the mouth and nose.
After the meeting, another resident fled back inside and still found 20 ants on them after a shower.
Another reported it was “out of control” at Carson Beach in Southie during sunset.
One person exclaimed: “It’s flying ant day!”
And this wasn’t even the summer’s first insect-related frenzy: The saga remembers July great dragonfly invasion in Rhode Island, which swarmed beachgoers in what appeared to be a plague.
Boston.com today
Sign up to get the latest headlines in your inbox every morning.