Behold, fishfly season is upon us

It's June, which can only mean one thing for those living near Lake St. Clair — fishflies, and lots of them. Shudder.

This photo of a fishfly-infested ATM was posted on Facebook by This Detroit Life, where it has earned nearly 3,000 shares as of Friday. A Reddit user caught the photo and posted it in the r/Detroit forum with the caption, "I see the ATM is closed today. I'm good."

The good news is the invasion will be over soon. Fishflies, more commonly known as mayflies, have a short lifespan. After living most of their lives underwater as "nymphs", they float above the surface, molt, and live just a day or two to mate before dying. What a life.

  • WhyEssEff [she/her]M14•23 days ago

    Mayflies isaac-pog My guys! They're the bug that got me over my generalized fear of bugs as a kid, love the little dudes

    I went to a summer camp for about a decade streak in the upper midwest and it was peppered with them, they stick on the walls outside and just hang there. They're super chill and you can pick them up without much worry, as a kid I'd pick them up by the wings and put them on the back of my hand, and they just chilled unless you really shook them off or just put them somewhere else. They don't really care. They just kinda vibe lea-finger-guns

    • the_itsb [she/her, comrade/them]6•23 days ago

      I had the same experience of them helping me get over my fear of bugs when I was little! They're so cool.

      I was really sad when I learned that their adult form doesn't even have a mouth.

  • SpiderFarmer [he/him]10•23 days ago

    I love these kinds of swarms. Iowa also gets these swarms of yellow mayflies and they just clutter every window. It's a sight to behold.

  • The_Jewish_Cuban [he/him]5•23 days ago

    I wish our life cycles ending with orgasmic rapture rather than just puttering around until your heart gives out.

  • SnowySkyes [she/her]5•23 days ago

    We get a ton of these around where I live as well. They’re harmless. Kinda adorable too.

  • sir_this_is_a_wendys [he/him]4•23 days ago

    I went to Cedar Point once (in May actually), and there things were EVERYWHERE. My friend and I thought they were fog or something at first, it was wild. I had never seen anything like that before.