RT: City of Santa Isabel decides to turn off lights to save hordes of bugs
Photo: Konstantin Kokoshkin / Globallookpress.com
The authorities of the Argentinean city of Santa Isabel, located in the province of La Pampa, decided to turn off the lights for several days to save them from the invasion of beetles in order to force the insects to leave the village and find shelter elsewhere. As RT clarifies, the settlement has been suffering from hordes of insects for more than a week.
“They are everywhere – in houses, shops,” complained to reporters the deputy mayor of the city Christian Echegaray (Cristian Echegaray). Representatives of local law enforcement agencies said that insects caused damage to residential buildings and vehicles, clogged the sewers of a gas station and caused many other problems with their appearance. It is noted that the beetles, protected by strong shells, do not bite, but people are advised to cover their faces to avoid injury.
Meanwhile, a lot of videos have appeared on social networks in which local residents demonstrate the consequences of an invasion of insects that prevent them from leading their usual way of life. Some citizens began to fill boxes with insects and take them out of the city in order to at least slightly reduce the number of uninvited guests.
The authorities attribute the sharp increase in the number of beetles to unusually heavy rains for this time of year and abnormal warming, against which the air temperature in the country rose to 40 degrees Celsius. These conditions are ideal for the reproduction of insects whose larvae grew and developed underground.
Against the background of the invasion of beetles, the authorities, who are sure that the insects were attracted to the city by lighting, decided to turn off street lights and lights in public buildings. Speaking to the AP news agency, the deputy mayor of the city noted that the city has been dark for the past three days, and the number of beetles has dropped dramatically.
