As thousands prepare to gather in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada trouble is brewing. No, someone hasn’t stolen your amazing outfit idea, it’s something that is proving far more troublesome for those setting up the makeshift city.

Cool your jets, it isn’t a shortage of MDMA either, we said under attack, not ruined. Let’s hand over to Gawker quoting directly from the official Burning Man blog:

You may have seen the bug rumours on the internet. We are here to tell you that they are all true. Well maybe not all of the rumours, but the bugs are real. They’re everywhere. They bite. They crawl all over you. They get up and in you.

Twin Peaks, who’s leading the construction of the Center Café, was talking about how bad they are when she jumped a little and pulled her t-shirt away from her body. A good-sized green bug fell to the ground. It had crawled into her bra.

Metal Shop Heather wears a welding mask most of the day. Bugs have crawled up inside her visor and nestled around her eyes. Cammy and Stinger needed some help from the medical team to deal with the infestation; Stinger’s back was covered with nasty red welts from the bites.

What’s going on? We don’t know. We don’t know how the little critters survive in the heat and the sun. All we know is that if you pick up some wood, you’re likely to uncover hundreds or thousands of the things.

If it’s proof you want, check out these tweets from those present at the construction of Black Rock City, Burning Man set to begin in earnest from August 30.

Perhaps a popular part of this year’s gift economy might be a handy can of bug spray or a mozzie net? There will be much skin on display and we could all do without getting bitten on our nether bits.

[source:gawker]