A new artificial island created as extra runway space for Kansai International Airport has been overrun by millions of locusts, as this video news report shows:

The operator of Kansai Airport has begun exterminating migratory locusts around its second runway, scheduled to open Aug. 2, to prevent them presenting a potential hazard to landing and departing aircraft.

According to the firm, when the airport opened in 1994, there was a similar mass generation of locusts on the reclaimed airport island, due to the insect’s lack of natural enemies, such as snakes and mice. As a result, the first runway was forced to close temporarily.

The firm began the extermination operation Monday to prevent the insects–estimated to number in the millions–from being sucked into aircraft engines or becoming stuck to cockpit windows, reducing visibility.

Another video of the invasion (you can hear the cameraman saying, “ugh, gross!”):

They might seem small in the video, but they could get much larger:

The insects are three to five centimeters long, but can grow to about 10 centimeters. If left alone, they are likely to inhabit the airport island until November.

“When they mature, they swarm. So we needed to take measures against them as soon as possible,” said an employee in charge of facility management at the firm.

The battle to exterminate the insections continues…