As the weather gets hotter, a number of pests begin to infest areas around us.
Forget flying ants because the thunderbug, or thrip, has been cropping up in areas around Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
They look like little black bugs which appears on your arms and legs - and they seem to be everywhere.
But do their presence herald the arrival of a thunderstorm as their name suggests?
TheNakedScientists.com have the answers and it seems that these insects may have been dealt a rough hand with its naming.
What is a thunderbug?
They are a creature of many names and are usually found nearer to agricultural land. They can be known as thunderflies, storm bugs, corn flies, corn lice, thunder blights and harvest flies.
Not bad for something so small.
There are around 6,000 species of Thrip and you wouldn't really be able to tell the difference between them unless they were under a microscope.
On the whole they are pests, drawn to bright colours, which is often why you see them on flowers. This is where they go into the buds to feed and then reproduce.
This is also the reason why they head for your body and get themselves stuck in your suncream.
Are they connected to thunderstorms?
This is their great misnomer. The only reason why they are called thunderbugs is because they appear in hot weather, after migrating from cereal crops.
They tend to appear when thunderstorms are due but this is really a coincidence and a matter of them being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It could be that the electric nature of thunderstorms have an effect on thrips, driving them into the open more but rest assured, their arrival does not precede a storm and the summer heatwave can stay with us a little longer.
