African American flies you say?

Eyes have had an interesting time in the headlines. Pig jizz in mice eyes can cure cancer. Piefed gives me more fun news than local stations.

I didn’t need to read that.

They are a vector for river blindness, which is a disease that you can transmit, but that’s not something that we see here.

Very reassuring

Apparently they’re Simulium vittatum.

https://www.msn.com/en-ae/news/other/huge-surge-in-tiny-eye-biting-flies-plagues-california-they-re-like-little-demons/ar-AA1ZyMaR

Residents in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV), to the east of Los Angeles, are battling unusually high numbers of black flies, also known as Simulium vittatum.

https://www.glamosquito.org/black-flies

Control Agents Used to Combat Black Flies

Black fly management is accomplished by applying a natural soil bacteria called Bti to water sources where black flies breed. Bti stands for Bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis. Bti is a special formulation of common soil bacteria that is highly effective in controlling black flies and mosquitoes.

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

Bacillus thuringiensis serotype israelensis (Bti) is a group of bacteria used as biological control agents for larvae stages of certain dipterans. Bti, along with other B. thuringiensis products, produces toxins lethal to various species of mosquitoes, fungus gnats, and blackflies but which have negligible effects on other organisms.

Weird that it rhymes. I hope there aren’t any tiny black flenises too

What a terrible day to have eyes and be able to read