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Downtown La Crosse business owners were cleaning bugs off the sidewalks this morning after the summer’s first big mayfly hatch started Wednesday night.

The flies, which spend most of their lives as larvae under the Mississippi River, rise to the surface when the water temperature is warm enough n usually in early July. Once they hatch, the insects live only about a day, flying upstream to lay their eggs before dying.

Mayflies are generally an indicator of a healthy river.