I know
you've seen them, splattered all over the front of your vehicle or hovering
around thick as clouds near roadways and fields. Lovebugs visit our area twice per year, once
in late spring, April and May, and then again in late summer, August and
September, and usually last four to five weeks each season.
Lovebugs can number in the hundreds of thousands and they
die en masse on car hoods, windshields, and radiator grills. Their decaying bodies are slightly acidic
and, when dried, can be extremely difficult to remove. This acidity can result in pits and etches in
paint and chrome if left for a few days.
The cooling effect of radiators can also be reduced by air passages
clogged by lovebug bodies. Visibility
can be dangerously reduced by windshield smears.
Lovebugs hang out near roadways because they are
attracted to automobile exhaust fumes, heat from engines and vibrations of
vehicles themselves.
There
are several methods used to lessen the damages of lovebugs on vehicles.
Lovebugs
like the warmth of the day and usually are thickest between 10:00 am and 4:00
pm. So, if you'd like to avoid them on
the roadway, a good method is to travel early in the morning or later in the
evening. A vehicle traveling slower
might also make fewer impacts with lovebugs, and when riding a motorcycle, it's
a good idea to keep mouths closed.
Some
people use wet dryer sheets, such as Downey or Bounce, to create a coating on
the front of their car, believing it to make lovebug bodies easier to remove
once splattered. Dryer sheets can also
be used to scour them off.
There
are other people who recommend applying car wax or a thin layer of baby oil to
the surface of vehicles for the same purpose.
Screens and hood deflectors can also be purchased to install on the
fronts of vehicles to minimize the impact of lovebugs on the painted surfaces.
Whether
or not these methods help, a fair amount of effort is still required to remove
lovebugs once they are dried and baked in the sun, so immediate cleaning is
recommended. Soaking for several minutes
with water might be necessary.
It has
been rumored that the lovebug was created at the University of Florida by
manipulating DNA and released as a way to control mosquito populations. This is not true, however. They originated in Central America and their
migration has been followed throughout Florida and other southeastern states,
starting in Texas, since 1940. Their
presence in central Florida was reported in 1955. By the end of the 20th century they had become
widespread all over the Gulf States and have been reported as far north as
North Carolina.
Lovebugs,
Plecia nearctica, are small black
flies with red thoraxes, members of the Bibionidae family and known as March
flies. Males are 1/4 inch and females
1/3 inch in length. Mating occurs almost
immediately after reaching adulthood, and the pairs can remain coupled, even in
flight, for days. Females live only a
few days and males slightly longer.
Lovebug larvae are seldom seen because they live and feed
in the thatch of grasses for most of the year.
They are beneficial in this regard because they feed on decaying
vegetation in the landscape, helping it to degrade and provide nutrients for growing
plants. Adults feed only on nectar.
Adult
lovebugs have an acidic taste and therefore few predators feed on them. Their larvae, however are food for birds,
such as quail and robins, spiders, some predatory insects such as earwigs and
beetles, and a centipede.
Because
lovebugs are not able to bite or sting and make little environmental impact, scientific
research for controlling them is not a high priority when compared to other, more
serious pests. Any known methods to control
them would also kill beneficial insects like bees and butterflies. Although they are a nuisance, it is best to
leave them alone. They will be out for a
few weeks and then disappear for most of the year.
For more
information on lovebugs visit http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/lovebug.htm
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