Burning Man Bugs Get More Buzz Than Festival As Bug Gurus Offer Insights On Pesky Battle [Photos]

Burning Man Festival has been plagued by bugs. Burning Man, famed for bringing crowds of participants to its remote desert location annually, is also known for devoting the final night of the festival to burning an enormous effigy. But now it looks as if the 2015 version of Burning Man will become famous for its bugs, reported ABC News.

With Burning Man set to begin next week, the bugs have become the new image of the New Age festival. Among the festival preparation pictures are those displaying the bugs everywhere.

And although the construction crews are the ones currently battling the critters as they try to work on the Burning Man site, the bugs are already getting more publicity than the event, reported the New York Daily News.

Black Rock City in Nevada is the site of the invasion. And Burning Man bloggers are sharing the details on the bugs, which are tiny but possess a mighty bad smell.

From whence the bugs came, no one seems to know. The critters might have just hatched or possibly ridden along with construction materials.

But just like you call Ghostbusters when a ghost is lurking, the state Department of Agriculture has called in a bug guru to travel to Burning Man to gather bugs and analyze them.

What would attract these stinky little creatures? Jeff Knight, state entomologist, thinks he knows the answer, pointing to Burning Man’s lights as the culprit. Knight says that the stink bugs and false blister bettles, as well as false chinch bugs, are attracted to lights even more when they have ultraviolet.

Although the bugs don’t suck blood for food, Jeff cautioned that they can bite if they get stuck under attire.

Burning Man participants shouldn’t worry about bugs, insisted a blog post by employees.

“These bugs are more of a mild nuisance than a full-blown infestation that should cause any major concern with Burning Man participants,” read the staff comment about the 2015 festival.

Knight also revealed that because it rained recently, Burning Man’s bugs are gobbling up the mustard plants that are flourishing. And although a partial solution rests in limiting the use of lights at night, it’s estimated that the critters will be there for a minimum of two weeks.

With the Burning Man Festival 2015 scheduled to open on August 30 for one week, that puts participants in close proximity to bugs.

“We will notify participants of any concerns next week before everyone begins traveling to the event,” promised Jim Graham, Burning Man spokesman.

Blogger and organizer John Curley described what it’s like currently for Burning Man folks who have a close encounter with the bugs, reported Fox News.

Included on the site are details of the bugs, including bites and photos.

“They’re everywhere. They bite. They crawl all over you. They get up and in you,” warned John. “We don’t know how the little critters survive in the heat and the sun. All we know is that if you pick up some wood, you’re likely to uncover hundreds or thousands of the things.”

But Burning Man Festival participants may find comfort in comparing their bugs with the superbugs rumored to be impacting the hospital at which Duchess Kate at one point was scheduled to give birth. As the Inquisitr reported, Kate was past her due date at the same time as a superbug attack affected patients at the hospital that she was planning on using.

[Photo by David McNew / Newsmakers Via Getty Images; Images Via Burning Man Blogs]