They’re harmless to humans, unless the human is driving a car, truck or even a golf cart during daylight hours. They don’t bite or sting. But, if you drive into a swarm of them, they’ll splatter your windshield, making it harder to see the road. They can clog your car’s radiator fins, causing overheating. And, if you don’t wash them off, their smashed dead bodies will pit the paint job on the front of your vehicle.
They are, of course, the bugs we least love twice a year, the lovebug. Now is one of those times they’re bugging us. The male-female pairs hook up and fly around just a few weeks in August-September and April-May, during seasonal changes. Each time they show up, I wondered where they hide the rest of the year. Does their love-making kill them? If so, why are more flying around six months later? Turns out, University of Florida researchers in Gainesville have studied lovebugs extensively and wrote papers about them.
Photo courtesy of University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology
Thanks to Norman C. Leppla, J. Weston, D.E. Short and M. Pfiester, all associated with UF’s Department of Entomology and Nematology, for answering those questions and many more. According to their research, after mating, females crawl under debris on the soil and deposit 100-350 eggs that hatch in about 20 days. Their metamorphosis to the adult stage takes several months. Adult males are about a quarter inch long. Females are bigger, about one-third inch.
Their love-making begins with males swarming above females, who remain close to the ground. Males prefer larger, heavier females because the odds are better for mating and reproducing. As females emerge from the vegetation, males swoop down and attempt to hook up. As many as 10 males have been observed holding onto one female. When mating, the male faces the opposite direction of the female.
They primarily feed on nectar from various plants. Under laboratory conditions, adult male lovebugs live about 92 hours, and females about 72 hours. Swarms can go as high as 20 feet off the ground, pitting paint on vehicles unfortunate enough to have run into them if the fatty bug tissue is not washed off in a day or two. If your car’s window or golf cart door is open, a bug crushed by your body can stain your clothing.
If your car has been recently waxed, lovebugs will wash off more easily. A light film of baby oil spread over the front and hood of your car, above (not on) the windshield, and side mirrors also helps. You can also lessen the odds of car damage by not driving between 10 a.m. and dusk, their hours of peak flying activity.
Driving at slower speeds also helps. Some motorists purchase a large screen for the front of their vehicle. Or, just before the start of lovebug season, leave Florida to visit your snowbird friends in Wisconsin for 2-3 weeks. A neighbor told me another tip that helps keep lovebugs and other bugs from settling on my house. When washing the outside of your house, put some Downy fabric softener in your bucket.
Since lovebugs especially love moist, grassy places, there are golf courses I totally avoid when lovebugs are around – Heron and Pelican, among them. The eighth hole at Heron is especially notorious for lovebugs, in my experience.
Jim Strothman is a resident of The Village of Caroline.
