Like an invading air force over Menominee Park, Oshkosh, Lake Flies have recently risen from Lake Winnebago and take to the skies solely of the purpose of mating. Their lives are short for they have no functional mouths, they only live long enough to complete their life cycle. Lake flies in their larval form are a crucial component of Lake Winnebago’s fishery, particularly the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), which is its main food. Lake flies are also known as blood worms. Their color comes from high levels of hemoglobin like substance, which helps them obtain oxygen, a molecule in short supply in the anoxic sediments of many lakes.