These sometimes pesky insects are known as the march fly, honeymoon fly, telephone bug, kissybug and double-headed bug!
Well, all that sounds very interesting until you've experienced them for a season! 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 [maybe Jacksonville]. 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?
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!
Do you love 'em or hate 'em?
Love bug at a glance
Did you know ...
The lovebug, Plecia nearctica Hardy, is a member of the family (biology) of march flies. It is also known as the honeymoon fly, telephone bug, kissybug or double-headed bug. It is a small flying insect common to the southern United States, especially along the Gulf Coast.
The lovebug was first described in 1940 by D. E. Hardy of Galveston, Texas. At that time, he reported the incidence of lovebugs to be widespread, but most common in Texas and LouisianaDenmark HA, Mead FW. Lovebug, Plecia nearctica Hardy. Featured Creatures. May 2007. Last accessed 2008-07-17. By the end of the 20th century, however, the species had spread heavily to all areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Georgia, South Carolina, and other parts of Central America. 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.
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
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
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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Love bug items for your kitchen
Love bugs commit kamikaze on windshield ...
They can totally obscure your view of the road!
death to all lovebugs in florida
a view thru semi window while coming out of green swamp listening to hank williams .... born to boogie
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Love bug apparel
The Love Bug, a Disney movie
In case you needed to know ...
The Love Bug was the first (and most successful) in a series of movies made by Walt Disney Productions that starred a white Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie, a car with a mind of its own. It was based on a 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 featured Buddy Hackett as Jim's enlightened friend, Tennessee Steinmetz, who created 'art' from used car parts. English actor David Tomlinson portrayed the devilishly evil Peter Thorndyke, the owner of the auto showroom and multitime SCCA national champion
who sells Herbie to Jim and eventually becomes his racing rival. The movie itself inspired a franchise that is still popular even today. The movie also pushed along the Volkswagen Beetle craze called Beetlemania, as people began to identify with the strange, rounded car that seemed just a bit different from most vehicles on the road.
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, ran on CBS in the US in the spring of 1982. In 1997, there was a made-for-television sequel which included a Dean Jones cameo, tying it to the previous films. The latest sequel, 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.
Tagline: Its a Love in for Herbie... the incredible little car who shifts for himself!''
The Love Bug: cute stuff
Amazon Error: Could not open remote connection
Sorry, there are no results available from Amazon.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.
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Love bug toys
Love bugs eaten by cat outside Orlando
A delicacy I hear ...
Love bugs attack.
In Central Florida we gets these swarms of dumb flys in May and September. They are the slowest dumbest bugs you will ever see. My cat thinks they are a hor'dourve.
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Love bug costumes
Love bugs attack a sailboat???
Never heard of them attacking a boat before ...
love bug attack
Attacked by love bugs sailing back to Tampa from Key West
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Cute love bug books
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.
Drop me a line ...
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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Do Squidoo, But Don't Plagiarize ...
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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!
