The day of the cockchafer

[Weather-history]

Here's a remarkable article taken from L'Atmosphere: meteorologie populaire by Camille Flammarion on a plague of cockchafers that struck Galway in 1688.

"In 1688, they formed so dense a cloud in Galway, that the sky was darkened to the distance of a league and the peasants had a difficult in finding their way about. They destroyed all vegetation, so that the country around had the look of winter. Their voracious jaws made a noise like that caused by the sawing of the timber and in the evening the flapping of their wings resembled the distant rolling of a drum. The unhappy Irish were compelled to cook and eat them for want of other food."

Edited August 23, 2008 by Mr_Data

[jethro]

The title of this thread sounds like a dodgy hammer house of horror...

I loathe May bugs, a plague of em sounds like hell on earth; wonder what caused it.

[PersianPaladin]

The title of this thread sounds like a dodgy hammer house of horror...

Or a very niche 70's porno flick.