It began slowly and innocently enough — just a few tiny bugs buzzing around lampposts.

Within an hour the small swarm of mayflies grew to what seemed like an overwhelming amount — surrounding every light post at the intersection of Water Avenue and Broad Street.

Adjectives can often be more descriptive than the actual situation, but on Tuesday night, the swarm grew to such an extent that the airspace above the entire intersection of Water Avenue and Broad Street  was thoroughly covered with tiny flapping bugs.

The small group of bugs had now become a vicious swarm.

It became difficult to walk down Water Avenue’s sidewalk without running into a bug or having one land on you.

Another bug dropped to the ground every few seconds, withering and writhing around.

By 11 p.m. Tuesday, it seemed as if I was witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Though the mayflies return every year, I thought it must be impossible for such a massive bug swarm to be a regular occurrence.

As the swarm of bugs grew larger, so did the pile of writhing mayflies on the street and sidewalks.

Portions of Water Avenue’s sidewalk were completely covered, making it impossible to see the red brick that lay underneath.

Just as quickly as the swarm became massive, it fell onto the ground, with remaining mayflies still writhing around.

Tuesday certainly wasn’t the first mayfly swarm that emerged from the Alabama River and playfully danced around streetlights, but it was the most noticeable to date.

Each year, the bugs emerge from the Alabama River to form an unfathomable swarm of insects.

The mayfly name is aptly derived from the bugs’ easily visible life cycle — one day or perhaps only a few hours. Essentially, they exist to reproduce. Emerging from the Alabama River, the mayflies copulate and then die.

The mayfly life cycle actually begins underwater, but is hard to visualize for most.

Snow is rare in Selma, but the dead carcasses of mayflies looks almost like a freshly produced snow pack.

Mayflies aren’t unique to Selma, dozens of species exist in multiple regions around the world, but for just a few days in August, it seems as if Selma is the site of a major ecological event.

Fortunately, my car wasn’t covered in the mayfly carcasses. Though, I’ve heard stories of the bugs coating cars in addition to roads and sidewalks.

Wednesday, the sidewalk was a  different story. The dead mayflies were partially gone. It seemed like they had partially disintegrated.

The bodies of the bugs were now reduced to pairs of wings and a few specks of dust. Perhaps it’s unfortunate that the event is so rare, and therefore, reduces the amount of time for viewing the spectacle.

It’s also nice not to have to constantly cut through the swarm of bugs each night when leaving the office.