BIRTHQUAKE

At the track this weekend photographing Indy Cars for a living I was surrounded and bombarded by a birthquake of Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) that had taken over the track, and the photographers, by the millions. They were in mating swarms and will soon lay their eggs in the soil which will become grubs and emerge the following year as adults like these.

I'm sure the drivers were getting pelted by these critters and, although small (maybe half an inch long), when you're going 200+ mph it's like getting hit with a brick. Good thing there was a windscreen and the drivers were wearing protective helmets.

I lost several good shots due to beetles crawling on my lens.

EXTRA PHOTO: Connor Daly driving the Chevy powered #20 USAF car over the hill into turn 3.