Elko, Nevada is being invaded. For the last few weeks, tens of thousands of Mormon crickets have been hatching, releasing hordes of the insects onto the town and surrounding areas in northern Nevada.
The bugs have a smell that’s been compared to being “akin to burning flesh,” and state officials have put up signs warning drivers of slick highways from the thousands of bugs that cover the roads. They’re not actually crickets, but wingless katydids. They’re also not Mormon; legend says they got the name because an outbreak devastated the crops of Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah decades ago. There’s an outbreak every 10 to 15 years, but the really bad news for the people in Nevada is that they’ll be around until August.
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