flying love bugs are everywhere this week

[tixx]

they are all over the entire Disney resort, they are so bad im some days no one is poolside Wed. they were EVERYWHERE 50 on a lounge chair was common yesterday was alot better hardly any comared to Wed. to Friday they were all over the MGM park even the cast member were swatting them away ....im off to the pool the storma along bay pool is a perfect temp mid 80's i would guess

love bugs ....yuck

 

[bobbiwoz]

We visited our son in Louisiana one year, and that was our first experience with them. They are like a plague!

Bobbi

 

[tixx]

i hope they never make it north ...


Love bugs are not the result of a genetic cloning experiment gone wrong, nor were they unwittingly loosed from a research facility charged with studying exotic insects. They also weren't bio-engineered as a natural solution to the mosquito problem. (Love bugs do not eat mosquitos: the adults do not eat at all, and larvae feed on decaying plant material.) These overly amorous critters are native to Central America; the best guess as to how they came to these United States places them as undiscovered stowaways who arrived by ship in Galveston or New Orleans around 1920. They migrated into Florida in 1947 from Louisiana, looked around, liked what they saw, and decided to stay. Their natural capacity for reproduction took care of the rest.

Barbara "it's a bug's life" Mikkelson
http://www.snopes.com/critters/lurkers/lovebugs.htm

 

[DVC Grammy]

What do love bugs look like, and are they as cute as their name?

 

[Lora]

I remember them from a previous Sept. trip. They look like fireflies to me - except they're attached (thus the "love bug" name).

 

[bobbiwoz]

What do love bugs look like, and are they as cute as their name?

I don't think so, what I remember are flying little lines connected to each other. Flying everywhere, don't leave your mouth open, although I don't think I ever ate one. It truly was unbelievable.

Bobbi

 

[ralphd]

They love to decorate your car.

 

[dsneygirl]

Oh man please let them be gone by next week, I hate those things!

 

[1000th happy haunt]

Here's the entry on Wikipedia, with picture.

Love bug

 

[DVC Grammy]

Here's the entry on Wikipedia, with picture.

Love bug

Yuck! Sorry I asked!

 

[JimC]

Generally harmless. Most decidedly a nuisance. Don't bite or sting, but have a very acidic body. If they die on your car get it washed off quickly. They are very hard to remove after a couple of hours and can etch the paint.

 

[JimMIA]

If you happen to be driving, all of the service plazas on the Florida Turnpike have lovebug wash stations. As you head back out of the service plaza, just before the entrance ramp, you'll see the wash station. You just pull up and the water comes on automatically and washes them off. 30 minutes later, you can't tell you washed, but it's still a good exercise.

Other than covering your windshield, they're harmless. I don't know why anyone would avoid them at a pool. They're busy; they're not going to bother you.

 

[tixx]

the biggest probelm is they are annoying and they sit on every spot of the chair ...you have to pick up the lounge chair drop it to make them fly away and quickly sit before you sit on them ...lol

they dont fly near the water so its fine there but anything white id covered with bugs infact the entrance to the hotel area from the pool area was willed with dead bugs i will post a few pics next week..they should have at least clean up the mess at the doorways we are talking hundred and hundreds of them but i will let the pictures do the talking

it looked like a bugs life everywhere today at mgm

 

[Simba's Mom]

When I was at WDW last week, a CM I talked with said they were the worst she's seen in 3-4 years. One day waiting for the bus stop at BCV, no one could sit on the benches because there were so many love bugs. And there were little piles of them all over the ground-

They were everywhere!

 

[6mouskateers]

They were awful this week. My poor mom sat on some and it was yukky. Should have seen our car after we got home! YUK! I told DH to go straight to the car wash before we even went home. Gotta get those nasty things off before they damage the paint. There was a spot on our local news last night about them--because of the recent rainfalls they were multiplying and out in force. I thought we were still short of rain!

I guess the bugs don't know the diff--they are too busy...

 

[JimC]

They are partial to bright white and yellow.

 

[lenshanem]

Oh, I remember a trip when we experienced those... AWFUL! You need to take paper towels and windex or something for your windshields.

We're down to 22 days until our trip. Think they'll be gone by then?

 

[Pocahantas]

Being from Louisiana, I can vouch for how awful these things are. They come out twice a year and are such a nuisance. This is the best time of year in Louisiana to enjoy being out by the pool but we can't even enjoy that with the lovebugs swarming around us. I wish there was a way to permanently get rid of them!

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

We were there in May and that is the other month they show up, so we knew they were annoying yet harmless. But they were BAD this past week. Swarming everywhere. We were pretty sick of them by Thursday.

A CM at MGM told us her mom told her if the love bugs come in May, no hurricanes. If they come in September, it means a great winter.

Old wives' tale, I am sure, but since the hurricanes have all veered off thus far, she said she wasnt going to complain about them. With the way they were swarming this past week, this winter in FL should be GORGEOUS.

A guy on the bus told some lady the "mosquito" myth about the love bugs. She turned to her approximately 12-13 year old son and told him "See....they eat mosquitos. What do you think of that?" He replied, "Kill the love bugs....let the dragonflies take care of the mosquitos."

 

[christianweecare]

DH & I just returned yesterday from Hilton Head. The love bugs were all around the beach house, as well. We were not bothered by them on the beach. Just a few at the lodge. I don't know why they were attacking the beach house.