Insect and Spider Identification: Mystery bug from the North Carolina mountains, 0 by os83

os83 wrote:
I've actually been wondering about this one for a year, but didn't know where to ask until I found this forum.

Last July, my girlfriend and I visited Mt. Mitchell and the whole mountain top was infested with these little guys. As far as I know, they weren't biting...but every tourist was still pretty bothered by the fact that a hundred of them would land on their clothes. Getting back in the car felt like a decontamination process.

Do you know what these are, what may have caused the infestation, or even whether this is an ongoing thing (or just a temporary issue last year)?

Sorry the picture isn't better...I was more interested in avoiding them than in documenting them at the time, and I also didn't have a very good camera with me.