Grasshoppers of 'living snow' cover Las Vegas and can be seen on radar

On July 26, a few blocks away from the Las Vegas Strip, grasshoppers besieged streetlights. Bridget Bennett/AFP/Getty)

Here are five words you definitely don’t want to hear: “It’s not snow. It’s grasshoppers.

, but It's been a nightmarish scene in Las Vegas over the past few days, with the city's bustling, casino-lined boulevards even busier than usual and literally filled with locusts flying across the sidewalks. Flying back and forth, the pale-winged grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis), a common desert species in the American Southwest, provides an abundance of these insects. After a feast of vegetation, many grasshoppers that originated in southern Nevada are migrating and heading north, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist Jeff Knight told reporters on July 25 that their paths will take them. Las Vegas and possibly extending into central Nevada, Knight said. [Top 10: Nature's Biggest Pests]

Similar grasshopper migrations have historically followed wet winters or springs. ; he recalls seeing such events "at least four or five times" in the area during his more than 30-year career. Can trigger swarming behavior, causing the insects to fly en masse

The creatures fly at night and can cover "at least a few hundred miles," Knight said, covering altitude as they migrate north. Up to 1,000 feet (305 meters) high. This particular swarm was so dense that on July 27 it was detected by radar, which meteorologists use to track the weather: At first glance, these giant swarms of insects appear Like a storm cloud, according to CNN,

Pale-winged grasshoppers have a tan or gray body and distinct black and yellow stripes on their legs. They are found in dry areas from southwestern Canada to Argentina. They can be found in any habitat, according to the USDA. The size of these insects varies depending on where they live, with females larger than males and up to 1.3 inches (33 mm) in length, but although individual grasshoppers may be small, Their numbers are disturbing in the Las Vegas swarm. One witness tweeted a video of the swarm spinning next to a streetlight outside the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas on July 26. Grasshopper tornado video. In 1988, a swarm of pale, winged grasshoppers appeared in Arizona, she tweeted. , so numerous that the insects are reaching a depth of 2 inches (5 centimeters) on the streets. Knight said there are so many grasshoppers arriving in Las Vegas now that it makes no sense to try to get rid of them with pesticides — — No matter how many grasshoppers are killed on any given night, thousands more will quickly take their place the next time the sun goes down, and many insect invaders are eventually killed by birds, coyotes and even others, Knight said. Insects eat it.

What’s more, residents have no fear of grasshopper visitors.

"They don't carry any diseases, they don't bite, and they're not even considered one of our problem species," Knight told reporters.

What if grasshoppers manage to get into a home? "With a vacuum cleaner," Knight says there's no point in spraying your house.

As the saying goes: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

But luckily for the city's human residents, these numbers of flying insects are not here to stay, and the grasshoppers should be gone within a few weeks at best, Knight said: Photo gallery: Stunning photos of locust swarms Photo: 15 species of insects 7 Insects You Will Eat in the Future and Spiders May Live with You

Originally published on Live