Has anyone else experienced an elevated invasion of bugs this year? Here we have more flies, ants, and some weird, small, round bug that I can’t identify. I hate it. Even friends in Santiago say the same, so I don’t know if it is due to living more rural. Some ants even got into an 18 kg bag of premium dog food. We closely inspected it and at least the ants were stupid and only at the top of the bag. We transferred the food to another bag. Anyways, it has just been gross.
FWIW – must be a regional matter. Here in XIIa Región if anything there has been a bug shortage and I starting to get worried. And now that winter is practically on us (snow down to about 2000 feet elevation ) even fewer little bichos. Not a single tábano during the summer, either. It’s just not Chile without the bugs.
Here in the VII region, fewer bugs than usual. There were a couple of mosquitoes for about a week, then the tinier ones that get through screens were around for another week and then nada. No biting flying insects for the last 3 months.
No red bugs seen but North America has ladybug infestations… could be they’re moving south.
This is the third cooler than normal summer in a row we’ve had on the south 5th region coast. Incredible how just 50 kms. inland it is a completely different story.
I’ve noticed a lot less spiders than used to be normal in the past months and also less flies. Don’t know what’s up with that.
Chile old wives tale says that summer ants indicate a rainy winter which Santiago RM and central Chile surely need. With El Niño developing, the tale may come true this year.
Another weird thing this year was how far the seagulls came inland to play between their feedings. They travel in packs of 15 or so and are extremely raucous and noisy from sunrise into the night. But they finally seem to thinning out and on their seasonal move to other parts.
At least the flies are less of a problem and those little brown bugs I have not been able to identify are gone. We are still dealing with ants. I am running out of places to hide the dog food.
