Love Bugs

[2Princes2Princesses]

They are ugly and annoying, I will agree with that. We also noted they seemed to be attracted to white/light colors. We dressed DS in blue and had his dark blue stroller and most of the time they left him alone.

We also noticed they didn't seem to like the dark colored benches at the BW as much as they liked the white ones at the bus stop.

A CM at MGM said her Mom always told her if the love bug swarm was big, it meant a slow hurricane season for FL.

 

[LionKingRules84]

Ok I have a bug phobia(in that I run away and freak out if I see an ugly bug or it crawls on me doesn't have to be a stinging bug) and even fireflys freak me out and so this lovely thread has made me scared to death to go on my trip now. I'm going sept 19th-27th and I'm now scared.

 

[sympatico]

LionKing, don't mean to rain on your parade but we were there at that time last Sept. and the lovebugs were thick. You sort of get use to them after a while but they are a nusiance. We were planning a family trip for this Sept. and I called my DIL and told her we would have to pick a different time because I wasn't coming back in Sept again. They tend to be the thickest around pools and shrubs or so it seemed to us. ( also on car windshields) I'm just glad the townhouse we stayed in had a screened in splash pool area to keep them out.

 

[KCMiller]

Do the lovebugs tend to be thicker at certain times of day? Do they come out at night, or have they pretty much, you know, exhausted themselves come dusk?

My DD just pure hates bugs. I'm just not going to tell her about them - she'd start freaking now. I'll let them be a surprise . . . and distract her with Mickey Bars !

KC

 

[jwfla422]

We noticed them starting to make their invasion down here on Tuesday. I've not seem them this bad down here in years. They're certainly not terrible by standards of what they were in WDW last Sept. We were even there the first week of Oct. last year and they really simmered down then, but were still pretty visible. I think they're all over the state right now. Need to go wax my front bumper and Rain-ex my windsheild for our ride up. I recall back in Oct. hitting an area just north of Vero where it was literally "raining" lovebugs it was so bad!

DD hates them too but I consistently tell her they won't hurt her. The kids were all stamping on them waiting by the carpool line yesterday at school. I thought they were going to kill each other!

 

[OhhBother]

We're at WDW now, and the love bugs became noticeable Tuesday. They seem worse at our resort -- Saratoga Springs -- than in the park. They're really annoying at the pool.

We ate outside at MGM today with no problem.

 

[LErin26]

Great...love bugs. I was afraid of seeing a post like this before my boyfriend and I leave on the 18th! We were there last September, so at least we know what to expect.

 

[perdidochas]

Has anyone been to WDW during the love bug infestation? We were there in May a few years ago and the love bugs were everywhere!!! We are going back to WDW in 2 weeks and I was concerned about the love bugs. Are they still the problem we found a few years ago? Are they in season now? Does anyone know?
Thanks for all the info

Well, they are starting to show up in Pensacola.

 

[perdidochas]

A Floridian will need to confirm this but I was told they only last 4-6 weeks a year and that is in Septmeber and October every year...
They are harmless and called Love bugs because they have two heads so I was told they do cause a big mess however as there are a lot of them and they get all over driving cars to put it nicely

Two times a year--May and September.

 

[perdidochas]

They are already in season, granted they aren't that bad right now but they are out and about. They are two individual bugs attached at.... well they are attached where one might suspect they'd be attached to be called lovebugs. They don't bite, they do stink if you squish them, they can be harmful to car finishes, they tend to fall to the ground if you pull them apart and they'll be around until September-ish.

They're only there for a few weeks/a month. They'll come back in September.

 

[CAJUNBLAZE]

I'm from south louisiana, and with the wildfires going on in florida you should see a big drop in love bug populations this fall. We have marsh fires, and it not only kills the bugs, but thier eggs. I'm sure the wild fires will put a hurt on the population for the rest of the year.

 

[LionKingRules84]

Geez if I had known this information I would have booked our trip in early december instead. The whole reason I booked a trip in Septemeber was I didn't want to wait that long to go to WDW. I will just have to rough it. Only thing I want to ask though is do the love bugs like to make it into resort rooms or do they tend to stay outside in the sunshine? Sorry for all this I haven't been to Flordia in 13 years and we went in october and the weather was usually mild.

 

[fla4fun]

Ok I have a bug phobia(in that I run away and freak out if I see an ugly bug or it crawls on me doesn't have to be a stinging bug) and even fireflys freak me out and so this lovely thread has made me scared to death to go on my trip now. I'm going sept 19th-27th and I'm now scared.

You will probably see some love bugs during that time frame. It's hard to predict exactly when the worst of the fall outbreak will be, because it can start as early as mid August or end as late as mid October. But it only lasts about 3 weeks or so typically. They are around right now, but nothing like they were last fall.

 

[sympatico]

LionKing, they mostly stay outside. You may see a few right by your door but we didn't have any in the house. I read that early morning and dusk was when they were the most mobile but we saw plenty in the mid afternoon too. They didn't bother us much when you're walking around the parks but if you want to lay around the waterparks or pool they can be bad but at least they don't sting or bite.

 

[dkrfla]

I live in Melbourne about 50 miles away from the Mouse and today at several locations throughout Melbourne I walked thru swarms of them. Outside of my doctors office building there were tons of them. Outside of work there was a bunch of them. They are however completely harmless and more of a nuisance than anything. I am heading out to WDW for a week next week and I will let you all know ifi t's "Tough To be A Bug" out at the world. Seriously though don't let them ruin your fun or worry you.

Dusty

 

[mjtm610]

My biggest concern is that we like to read by the pool. The last time we were in WDW in May, that was impossible. The love bugs were all over us and our books. True, they don't bite-but I hate them "bugging" me. We might have been there during an especially heavy period.
I used to live in Winter Park ( just north of Orlando) and while I remember the love bugs- I thought they were much worse when we were visiting WDW in May. I would never discourage anyone from going down to WDW though!!
Thanks for the tips regarding the light colored clothes and the light colored benches. Any tips are welcome! That's one of the things we love about the postings.....they are so informative.
We have adult children (5). One of our daughters is expecting her first baby this summer. She was explaing her method of relaxation. She said she goes to "her happy place". When we asked where that was---she said "Right when I enter the Magic Kingdon---the first steps under the train--when I first see the castle." My son-in-law thought that was funny until we began to ask our other kids were their "happy place" was---They ALL had a different spot----but they were ALL WDW! Now you know we raised them right!!!!