Year of the Mayfly?

[dingdongrb]

What is it with all the mayflies this year? I've been in CM now for about 8 years and I've never seen the mayfly hatch to intense as it's been here this week. Saturday night was horrendous and tonight it seems to be bad but not nearly as bad as it was Saturday. Has anyone seen this occur during other years here?

[worgeordie]

Do you mean Termites?, never seen any Mayflies in Chiang Mai.

regards worgeordie

[dingdongrb]

Do you mean Termites?, never seen any Mayflies in Chiang Mai.

regards worgeordie

Is that what they are? They appear to look like a mayfly....

Looking at a couple posts in a few other forums it seems nobody knows what they are as some are saying mayflies, some saying termites, and some saying flying ants.

Maybe we better call our famous entomologist Gil Grissom...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/922002-mayflies/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/833845-termites/

[Chicog]

Ants?

The rain normally triggers them sporadically, but I'm guessing flying season is a bit bunched up.

[CMKiwi]

Lots of termites... first I saw a smaller species and the last few days were the bigger ones.

About a week ago they were really thick between 6 and 8 pm. Glad I've got a full face helmet and visor but it did require quite a clean once home.

[dru2]

I don't know what their scientific name is, but Thais call them 'maleng mao' or sometimes shorten it to 'meng mao' - 'drunken insects'... Harmless, but a damn nuisance.

[Freakin Musashi]

Do they look like termites or tussock moths?

[cyberfarang]

Does it really matter what they are? They are large flying things that get into everywhere and very irritating but guess they are more likely to be termites.

I have never seen so many as there have been this year. Yesterday after nightfall I made the mistake of leaving our front door open with the lights on in the house. Within seconds the whole place was swarming with the little buggers. It was like a biblical pestilence plague and it`s been like that for over a week now. I wonder if the extreme hot and dry weather we had recently has anything to do with it? But no expect and don`t really know.

[canuckamuck]

I have seen Mayflies here, but never in large numbers like you see in termite swarms.

A photo would clear things up quick.

That being said, I was thinking that there were less termites this year. But we are in Chiang Rai.

[kaptainrob]

Winged termites hatch from underground during rain and swarm toward any light source. Flying ants are quite different and don't swarm in very large numbers.

[dingdongrb]

Great info Rob but it was difficult for me to tell as their little antennas as well as their entire bodies curled up as they were frying in the wok....

[villagefarang]

It is the ants which they eat, not the termites, so now we know.

[dingdongrb]

It is the ants which they eat, not the termites, so now we know.

Honestly I think some will eat anything that moves..... Also I think they are into eating the ant eggs more than the ants.

"Certain insects are also eaten in Thailand, especially in Isan and in the north. Many markets in Thailand feature stalls which sell deep-friedgrasshoppers, crickets (ching rit), bee larvae, silkworm (non mai), ant eggs (khai mot) and termites. The culinary creativity even extends to naming: one tasty larva, which is also known under the name "bamboo worm" (non mai phai, Omphisa fuscidentalis),^[64] is colloquially called "express train" (rot duan) due to its appearance."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_cuisine