Guangzhou’s only national scenic park has seen a bunch of tourists flee in terror and the campus of one of the city’s high schools has been infested with red ants as we enter the time of year in which creepy crawlies make our lives miserable.
The furry creatures infesting the national scenic park.
A plague of caterpillars at Baiyun Hill in Guangzhou scared the locals away after thousands of butterflies were set free in the reserve between April 29 and May 12, Shenzhen Daily reports.
In recent weeks, tourists were seen screaming and running away as caterpillars dropped on them from tree branches.
The paper has more:
Sponsored by a local company that breeds and sells butterflies, the park set free more than 100,000 butterflies on the mountain last month, during its first festival to promote “butterfly culture,” according to the report.
A company called Dream of Butterfly breeds the creatures to be set free at product launches, anniversary parties and other commercial events. The butterflies set free at Baiyun Hill included at least 20 species such as golden birdwings, common Mormons, swallowtails and plain tigers.
A park spokeswoman said Saturday that it would be a major task to clear all caterpillar colonies without using toxic pesticides and polluting the park.
The city’s Wushan High School has also been overrun by insects, in this case red ants, Guangzhou Daily reported on its microblog.
The finger of a student who had been bitten.
The first such report came last Friday when a student was bitten by a red ant while waiting for a bus outside campus. The bite was excruciatingly painful and it later swelled up.
The bite of the 7mm fire ant, which has invaded the dormitories of the school, is notoriously painful and can even cause death in some cases.