Bug blogging

There was a strange bug invasion last week. Giant flies invaded the office building where I work part time. I don't know if these are horse-flies (although they are 3/4" to 1" long), and have not seen horse-flies at all for many years. The last time I remember seeing them was back in Missouri on a chilly Spring day when we were floating down one of the rivers. They are after your blood, aggressive, and bite HARD. OUCH! Through googling (don't you love googling flies?) I find that they do live around here, and I probably have not seen any because I don't get out in rural areas that much... same for floating down the rivers. I guess if they hung around downtown near Lady Bird (Town) Lake they'd be eaten by bats, but it's still early for bats.

Certain parts of this building became filled with these giant flies. We were told that most of them were coming from a certain stairwell, so that one should be avoided if we didn't want to let more in. But the flies were just flying around, mostly parked on the walls, not trying to bite anyone, just minding their own business which seemed to be nothing at all (typical office slackers).

I had my cup and spoon filled with sudsy water in the kitchen sink, and when I went to finish washing it, there was a fly floating in the water... no longer alive. Not sure if he was after the water or the remnants of oatmeal, but there he was. I didn't think to take a picture, but here is a mock-up showing how big this guy was compared to the spoon.

Why are all these humongous flies in this office building? Most of the people who work there travel a lot, and all over the world, a lot of it in rural areas. I'm wondering if somebody didn't cart them in with some soil or who knows what. I'm also wondering why they haven't been trying to bite people. Maybe this variety prefers do-nuts. If so, they have come to the right place.