They do not live very long — a day or so — and their single purpose as an adult is to mate and die.

        The combination of warm weather and lack of rainfall has meant a bumper crop of adult mayflies in the area, especially near the Ohio River.

        “We're having a large number of them come out at the same time,” said Gene Kritsky, a biology professor and insect expert at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Delhi Township. “These dense mating swarms are made up of hundreds of thousands of males and females that have emerged from the water. Males spot females and copulate. It's like a giant singles bar.”

        In any case, both Mr. Kritsky and Bery Pannkuk, technical director for Scherzinger, a pest control company, say there is really nothing to fear.

        They don't bite, they don't carry disease, and there is really no reason to call a pest control company, said Mr. Pannkuk. The insects die, dry up and are blown away by the winds. If you fear an allergic reaction to insect body parts, Mr. Pannkuk added, “Suck 'em up with a vacuum cleaner.”

        Indeed, said Mr. Kritsky, mayflies have value.

        “They are used as biodiversity indicators for water quality,” said Mr. Kritsky. “They like fresher water, a good, flowing stream or river.”

        Mr. Pannkuk agrees about their value.

        “They're a phenomenal part of the food chain in and around aquatic areas,” he said. “All sorts of animals eat them.”

        Mayflies are of the order Ephemeroptera. Short-lived. After mating, the females lay eggs within an hour, attaching them to aquatic plants. The young, called naiads, will burrow and over-winter in a river or stream until the following spring.

        For the most part, adults of the some 2,100 species around the world (550 species in North America) don't eat. The males just fill their body with air and go out in search of inflated females.

        Mr. Kritsky saw a couple thousand of them Tuesday swarming around a gas station in Price Hill.

        “There is nothing to be alarmed about,” said Mr. Kritsky. “I was rather pleased to see that many. What we're seeing is the end-product of a night of wanting and getting sex.”

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