What an interesting name don't you think? Ah, love bugs -- gotta love 'em!
These sometimes pesky insects are known as the march fly, honeymoon fly, telephone bug, kissybug and double-headed bug! Ever drive through a state during "love bug season?" You'll know what I'm talking about! I was first introduced to them when I lived in Atlanta, Georgia and inquired of a neighbor of mine, "What's that all over the front of your car?" You see they had returned from a trip to Florida and their car was so covered in love bugs, that you couldn't tell the true color of the car.
For those of us who experience the love bugs each season, we know to wash our cars as soon as possible so that the love bugs don't etch your paint job. I guess you could say it's our equivalent to the road salt from the North during the winter?
A cute love bug
That cute illustration of a love bug is by Brad Fitzpatrick and is about as cute as they get, despite the fact that they can be down right annoying!
Ah, the annual love bugs!
Do you love 'em or hate 'em?
Love bug at a glance
Did you know ...
The lovebug, Plecia nearctica, is a member of the family of march flies. It is also known as the honeymoon fly, telephonebug, kissybug or double-headedbug. The adult is a small, flying insect common to parts of Central America and the southeastern United States, especially along the Gulf Coast.Denmark HA, Mead FW, Fasulo TR. Lovebug, Plecia nearctica Hardy. Featured Creatures. 2008.
The lovebug was first described in 1940 by D. E. Hardy from Galveston, Texas. At that time, he reported the incidence of lovebugs to be widespread, but most common in Texas and Louisiana.Denmark HA, Mead FW, Fasulo TR. Lovebug, Plecia nearctica Hardy. Featured Creatures. 2008. However, by the end of the 20th century the species had spread heavily to all areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Georgia, and South Carolina. L. A. Hetrick, writing in 1970, found it very widespread in Florida and described its flights as reaching altitudes of 300 m to 450 m and extending several kilometers over the Gulf.Hetrick LA. Biology of the "love bug," Plecia nearctica Hardy. Florida Entomologist. 1970. In 2006, it was reported as far north as Wilmington, North Carolina.Denmark HA, Mead FW, Fasulo TR. Lovebug, Plecia nearctica Hardy. Featured Creatures. 2008.
Love bugs can be a nuisance!
Because of their highly acidic body chemistry ...
Its character as a public nuisance is due not to its bite or sting (as it is not capable of either), but to its apparently highly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne love bugs exist in enormous numbers near highways, they die en masse on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills when the vehicles travel at high speeds. If left for more than an hour or two, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove, and their acidity pits and etches automotive paint and chrome.
Insects remains may be scrubbed from cars using dryer sheets, though no scientific evidence exists that shows they are more or less efficient than any other material. The application of a vegetable coating can be highly effective in preventing the bugs from sticking to automobiles.
Bitten by the Love Bug!
![Bitten by the Bug:Love at First Sight [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21EDAQ8PWPL._SL160_.jpg)
Bitten by the Bug:Love at First Sight [VHS]
Amazon Price: (as of 12/25/2009)
List Price: $14.95
Love bugs as gift ideas ...
For any time of year!
May and September sightings ...
The tiny Love Bugs become a nuisance on Florida highways as they splatter onto car grills and windshields during mating flights, usually in May and September.
Little to love about love bugs ...
Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment ...
You won't have to look too hard to see that Love Bug season is upon us again. The pairs of tiny flies are showing up on windshields and grills of cars and trucks around Florida. But why here? And why now? Phil Koehler is an urban entomologist at the University of Florida (Phil Koehler, Ph.D., Staff Endowed Professor, Urban Entomology, Department of Entomology, University of Florida)...
"Love Bugs are small flies that are in the process of mating when they swarm over the roads. So usually there are two individuals: the large one is the female and the small one is the male. The female usually gets her way and she drags the male around with her."
Entomologist John Jackman is at Texas A & M University -- where they have equal experience with Love Bugs (John Jackman, Professor and Extension Entomologist, Texas A & M University)...
"They're quite seasonal. They do occur early in the spring here for a few weeks while the adults are out in a mating flight. And we may see another mating flight later in the fall of the year."
And while the seasonality of the nuisance flies might be good news, the bad news might be in what's to come (Koehler) ...
"Usually the one in May is not as big an emergence. We don't have as many Love Bugs coming out in May as we do in September."
For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. --www.floridaenvironment.com.
Love bugs in the sky ...
Nope, it's not Herbie the love bug!
Attack of the Love Bugs VOL 2
Love Bugs Swarm a Florida home waiting for their next victim to venture outside. OK, they are really just harmless bugs that appear in May-June and September to gum up your car's front windshield and remove any paint that they might come in contact with.
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curated content from YouTube
Love bug items for your kitchen
Love bugs commit kamikaze on windshield
They can totally obscure your view of the road!
Love bug apparel
The Love Bug, a Disney movie
In case you needed to know ...
The Love Bug was the first in a series of movies made by Walt Disney Productions that starred a white Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. It was based on the 1961 book Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford. The movie follows the adventures of Herbie, his driver Jim Douglas (Dean Jones), and Jim's love interest, Carole Bennett (Michele Lee). It also features Buddy Hackett as Jim's enlightened, kind-hearted friend, Tennessee Steinmetz, a character who creates "art" from used car parts. English actor David Tomlinson portrays the devilishly evil Peter Thorndyke, the owner of the auto showroom and a SCCA national champion who sells Herbie to Jim and eventually becomes his racing rival.
Four theatrical sequels followed: Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas, and Category: Herbie: Fully Loaded - . A five-episode TV series, Herbie the Matchmaker, aired on CBS in the United States in the spring 1982. In 1997, there was a made-for-television sequel which included a Dean Jones cameo, tying it to the previous films. The latest entry Category: Herbie: Fully Loaded - , was released on June 22, 2005, by Walt Disney Pictures.
At Walt Disney World's All-Star Movies Resort in Orlando, Florida, Herbie has been immortalized in the "Love Bug" buildings 6 and 7.
The Love Bug was the highest-grossing film of 1969.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/wheelsonfilm/4446570/Wheels-On-Film-The-Love-Bug.html "Wheels on Film: The Love Bug"
The Love Bug: cute stuff
![The Love Bug [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H782V7FEL._SL75_.jpg)
![The Love Bug [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZX4WP7X2L._SL75_.jpg)
![The Love Bug [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51C521MRPHL._SL75_.jpg)
![Love Bug [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21Z2FE0V0QL._SL75_.jpg)
Love bugs on a yellow car ...
Yikes, I have a yellow car!
Attack of the Florida Love Bugs! VOL 1
Every year, LOVE BUGS attack Floridians by the millions. These little buggers arrive in May and stay through June. Then they return in September to finish off the remaining residents. Get out while you can!!! OK, so they don't really attack, but they do ruin many a fine paint job.
Runtime: 30
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curated content from YouTube
Love bug toys
Love bugs eaten by cat outside Orlando
A delicacy I hear ...
Love bug costumes
Love bugs attack a sailboat???
Never heard of them attacking a boat before ...
Cute love bug books
Drop me a line -- Love -- Love Bugs?
Had any encounters with Love Bugs?
So, do you live in a state that is plagued with love bugs each year? Do they bother you or not? I'd love to hear from you!
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Reply
- Carolyn Carolyn Nov 8, 2009 @ 11:11 am
- yes I'm totaly bothered with them and I live in MT.Carmel,Tenn. they get all over my front door and they get in my windows and in the trailer i live in. I can't stand it anymore! My landlord told me they were called the lovebug-so I got on the Internet to find out about them. Anyplace there is HotSun orgood ole heat their there.
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- AndyPo AndyPo Sep 24, 2009 @ 7:37 am
- Very interesting. I don't think we have these in England (or at least we don't call them Love Bugs)
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- kiwisoutback kiwisoutback Jul 16, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
- I just watched all of these youtube videos to see if these were the same bugs I saw in Tampa, and yup, they were. We drove through thousands of these years back and they were mating. Luckily, I was in a rental car, so I didn't have to worry about the paintjob. Squid Angel blessed!
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- carpe-diem carpe-diem May 27, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
- The female love bugs remind me of some of the ladies that used to suckup real close at times. Sort of dead ends don't you know....
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- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Sep 4, 2008 @ 3:44 am
- I never knew that Love Bugs were actually insects. I thought it was just the name of the Disney Movie Character.
Old Black Fly was surprised to find that there was an insect even more pesky that he is.
Love bug in the news ...
- Geneva teen takes second place in Love Bug Internet contest
- She received the second place prize in Fox Valley Volkswagen's Love Bug Contest, which asked peo...
- Beetle banner to fly over Mumbai sky on a copter
- The Beetle, which captured millions of hearts as the curvy, temperamental Herbie in The Love Bug and...
- Michael Lohan wants DJ Samantha Ronson to help get daughter Lindsay into rehab
- The "Herbie the Love Bug" star's father has recently spoken openly about his fears for...
- Marin snapshot: Novato engineer's Herbie replica always brings a smile
- Phil Sigmund of Novato owns a 1961 Volkwagen Beetle that he has rebuilt to look like Herbie the Love...
More info on those crazy love bugs ...
From some reputable sources!
- University of Florida
- Plecia nearctica is the lovebug that motorists frequently encounter as a serious nuisance when traveling in southern states.
- University of Florida: Lovebugs in Florida
- 'Lovebugs' are small black flies with red thoraxes. Males are 1/4 inch, and females are 1/3 inch in length. These flies are members of the family Bibionidae and are known as March flies. Several species of March flies are native to Florida, however, Lovebugs, Plecia nearctica Hardy are recent invaders from the west.
- Texas Cooperative Extension
- Lovebugs are small black flies with red thoraxes. They are members of the family Bibionidae. Several species of this family are native to the United States, but lovebugs, Plecia nearctica, are relatively recent invaders.
More love bug stuff
You can hide from them love bugs!
Gazebo with Mosquito Netting -- keeps out the love bugs too
Instant Gazebo! 10 ft. Offset Umbrella with Mosquito Netting
Durable spun-poly shade. Detachable zip-on mosquito netting.
Other pesky critters needing a little love ...
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No-see-um -- You Sure Can Feel-um
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No-see-um ... yep, you sure can feel-um even if you can't see-um! Hey ... I live in Florida, you don't need to ask me about how pesky these little creatures can be! I remember when I wore my hair very short and gelled it spiky, rather like the perfor...
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Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
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The Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), also known as Hissing roach or simply Hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 4-5 inches at maturity. They are originally from the island of Madagascar off the African...
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Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work ... it is just NOT cool so don't do it!
by JaguarJulie
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