By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com
A swarm of mayflies around 9 p.m. Tuesday night took over the fuel pumps at the Country Food Mart, at the intersection of US 90 and Main St. in Liberty, discouraging any would-be customers from fueling up their vehicles.
Looking like a scene from a movie involving biblical plagues, millions of mayflies flew around the bright lights above the gas pumps while others fell to the pavement below. Some customers who braved the insects to enter the store did so at a distance, parking their vehicles away from swarm, then darting inside.
While the bugs are generally harmless, large swarms of mayflies flying in synchrony can cause problems for motorists due to a lack of visibility and a buildup on windshields.
Mayflies are short-lived, surviving only one or two nights, according to information from the Texas A&M Extension Service. The insects mate in swarms.
“Eggs are deposited while flying low over the water, or by dipping the abdomen on the water surface, and some even submerge themselves and lay eggs underwater,” according to the Extension Service.
For more information on mayflies, click here: https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/mayfly/
To see a video of the swarm in Liberty, taken by Bluebonnet News Editor Vanesa Brashier and daughter, Alexia McCulloch, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x6K7SALxrc or see the link below.
Mayflies swarm the Country Food Mart gas tanks in Liberty on Tuesday night, June 11. 
Mayflies swarm the Country Food Mart gas tanks in Liberty on Tuesday night, June 11. 
