--- title: Burning Man Infested By Bugs description: Organizers say they might have to "nuke the city" to get rid of them canonical: https://time.com/4004824/burning-man-bugs/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-20T16:30:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:14.127Z article:section: Science og:title: Burning Man Infested By Bugs og:description: Organizers say they might have to "nuke the city" to get rid of them og:url: https://time.com/4004824/burning-man-bugs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Burning Man Infested By Bugs twitter:description: Organizers say they might have to "nuke the city" to get rid of them twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Swarms of Giant Bugs Infest Burning Man Festival > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species [Watch (HLS stream): Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zHyAT7e9.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2013-12-04. What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? TIME's Bryan Walsh explains how animals like the Asian carp, lionfish, and Burmese python can be a threat._ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Aug 20, 2015 4:30 PM UTC by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Aug 20, 2015 4:30 PM UTC An outbreak of insects at the Nevada desert festival site was confirmed by the organizers of Burning Man on Tuesday. Reports of the bugs first started surfacing on Twitter, with photos of swarms of bugs covering tires and carpets in Black Rock City. Organizers speculated on the [Burning Man blog](http://blog.burningman.com/2015/08/building-brc/a-second-generation-and-yeah-those-bugs/) that the bugs, once lying dormant in the desert, were hatched by spring and summer rains. Some organizers have reported being bitten. > [](https://twitter.com/CLoungebrc/status/633789214987956224) Entomologist and insect photographer Alex Wild [told Gizmodo](http://gizmodo.com/weve-identified-those-bugs-infesting-burning-man-and-1725287661?dfp%5Fpp%5Fab=on&dfp%5Fdesktop%5Fthree=off&utm%5Fexpid=66866090-43.E9Bjfd6NTuSlXJewu2e%5FIg.1) that the green bugs are probably stink bugs in the family Pentatomidae, while an entomologist Karl Magnacca [chimed in on Twitter](https://twitter.com/kmagnacca/status/634238534203805696) to say the smaller bugs, which have been seen on carpets, are most likely Nysius, or seed bugs. Burning Man organizers hope that the bugs disappear by Aug. 30, when the festival starts, otherwise else they say that they will have to “nuke the city” to get rid of them. ## Transcript One of the biggest threats to endangered species isn't poaching, or pollution, or climate change. It's other animals. Here's what you need to know. Just look at the Asian carp, invasive species that have been threatening the US for years. The carp were imported by Midwest and fish farmers in the 1970s, eventually escaped due to flooding. The fish, which can grow as large as 110 pounds, who have a habit of leaping out of the water like silver missiles when they're threatened, are voracious eaters. US officials were so worried that the carp would make their way all the way up to the Mississippi River, and into the Great Lakes' ecosystem, that the White House named a carp czar in 2010, and has since spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to defend the Lakes; but those efforts may be for naught. A new study found out last month that a number of grass carp, a subspecies of Asian carp, seemed to have established themselves in a river that leads directly in to the Great Lakes, which means they could be setting up the stage to breed for years. Then there's the lion fish, a spine three- tipped species that has wreaked havoc in the Atlantic since it was accidentally introduced during Hurricane Andrew back in 1992. Lion fish is a rapid breeder, and an indiscriminate hunter, consuming more than 40 species, including valuable commercial ones like the grouper. Like many invasive species, they're especially dangerous because native species have no innate fear of them until too late. On land, Burmese pythons, often released accidentally as pets by their owners, have begun to menace the Florida everglades. The python can grow nearly 20 feet, can take down everything from bobcats to small alligators. In 2012, [ unk ] the everglades from the drastic reduction in the number of small mammals that tend to make up the diet of the python, a sign the snakes are beginning to have a major impact on one of the most important ecosystems in the United States. Given the threat from invasive species, it's unsurprising that governments spend billions of dollars a year in trying to deal with it. And the problem's getting worse. Part of the [ unk ] mixing up habitats, putting animals from one part of the world to another; while growing international trade can ship species across the globe. The fight against invasive species has long been a losing battle, and [ unk ] led some scientists to say time to stop trying to fight. After all, a species that left its home in Africa millions of years ago has since spread to every corner of the world. It should be a familiar one. 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