New Yorkers are buzzing over the latest batch of bugs to plague the city — but entomology experts say the tiny critters pose no health risk, and no one should worry.
Most people think the little bugs are gnats — but they’re really aphids, and they’re enjoying a boom year, said David Grimaldi, curator of the division of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History.
“Aphids feed on the fluids of plants, such as tree leaves,” Grimaldi said. “They excrete little droplets of sugary secretions which sustain ants and other insects.
“Given their numbers, these aphids are probably feeding from trees along sidewalks, in Central, Prospect and other parks.”
Aphids don’t live long, but they multiply quickly. Grimaldi said the mild and humid spring New York has seen this year have helped aphids extend their lives.
“A lot depends on the weather,” he said. “If temperatures remain mild and humidity and rainfall high, they will survive longer, for a few days to maybe a week or more.”
The city often gets lots of aphids, but New Yorkers never notice them, experts say, because they are normally hunted by predator insects.
“There is absolutely no health concern,” Grimaldi said.
Don’t tell Massi Valdez that aphids aren’t pests. He was bugged by them during an outdoor music event at Lincoln Center.
“I couldn’t breathe, it was so bad,” Valdez said.
“While walking through the pool area it was so bad I had to close my eyes and cover my mouth to walk through because they were getting into my nose and eyes,” he said. “They were all over me and everyone else walking by. It was so uncomfortable. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Radiyah Chowdhury, 28, thought he was under attack. The Brooklyn resident was walking to a bus stop in Crown Heights when the swarm suddenly appeared.
“Everyone around me was swatting the bugs away, too,” Chowdhury said. “It was a futile attempt, though. There were too many of them. I thought it was…
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