Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (July 05/02) - It's summertime and the living is easy... for the bugs.

For most humans, it's time to apply insect repellant and put on bug jackets. While mosquitoes and blackflies are largely responsible for our endless itching, there are two other insects that also drive Deh Cho residents crazy: bulldogs and hair-eaters. Stacy Marcellais, of Nahanni Butte, said it's the hair-eaters--technically known as bark beetles or wood borers -- that she really can't stand.

"They're icky, they're creepy," she said while making a face.

Fort Simpson's Noleen Hardisty, sitting at a picnic table by the arbour, enjoying Canada Day festivities on a warm, sunny afternoon, said she doesn't despise one insect more than another.

"Let's just say all bugs bother me," she said.

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth, when, as fate would have it, a hair-eater landed on Noleen's head. She fled, screaming.

"How ironic, huh?" she said after ensuring the coast was clear.

Hair-eaters are black with long antennae. They fly awkwardly in an upright position. When they land in a person's hair, their legs tend to fasten, making removal a chore.

After consulting a book on entomology, Renewable Resources officer Ken Davidge reported that hair-eaters, which have a lifespan of about two years, feed on coniferous bark.

It is also within tree bark where they deposit their eggs, Davidge said. They survive the winter by burrowing into sap wood.

Bulldogs, one of over 2,000 species of horsefly, buzz incessantly and cause pain and leave swelling when they decide to draw blood. It's only the females that are blood-suckers. The males feed on nectar, according to a Web site on horseflies.

While driving the highways, it's dragonflies that appear ubiquitous. Yet, if one stops anywhere, it's the bulldogs that swarm vehicles as if they'd been waiting all day. The reason for that, according to the Web site, is because they lay 200 to 1,000 eggs at a time, Those eggs usually hatch in about four days.

Love them or hate them, the bugs are simply part of the season.

"You've just got to learn to live with them," said Evelyn Krutko, of Fort Providence.vidence.