While the playa had been dealing with hordes of big, green bugs, residents in the Eastern Sierras and high desert have been dealing with their own gross outbreak for the past two months.

Inyo, Kern and Mono Counties have been dealing with enormous swarms of small red-and-black bugs called Melacoryphus lateralis, or seed bugs that are getting all over place. People turn off lights at night to keep the bugs away, and windows and doors are kept shut tight. "They're in everything. There's no way to get rid of them or eradicate them. They're just here," Blair Nicodemus of Lone Pine told the Associated Press. "I'm sure I've eaten at least two dozen, because they get into your food."

As horrifying as a scenario it seems, the bugs are otherwise harmless to humans. Scientists think the population boom was because of a mild winter, and the dry summer drought conditions have driven them into cities and communities as their food sources—wild plants—have died off. Outbreaks have been observed in Arizona, but never before in California. According to The Daily Independent, the outbreak is likely a fluke for the region and not a sign of things to come.

While the bugs at the Burning Man site have reportedly blown away, there's no end in sight for the Eastern Sierras. Only the wind and the smoke from wildfires seems to offer a little reprieve.

"We are tired of it," said gas station owner Soma Praba. "I am waiting for the first snow to come."