Hot Weather Brings State a Dark Cloud

Plentiful winter rains that sent up a dazzling crop of wildflowers and other plants across Arizona have also spawned a bumper crop of gnats, which now blanket homes and people as the insects swarm through cracks in windows and doors in search of air-conditioned comfort.

“It’s becoming a lot drier and they are looking for havens of moisture, if you will,” said Paul Baker, a University of Arizona entomologist. “The desert isn’t very kind to them right now, but human habitats are.”