What are love bugs?

[crabmeal]

I' reading about annoying love bugs and need to know what they are. We'll be there in Nov and I need to prepare myself. I hate bugs and this summer our trip was joined by green head flies. Yuck! So what does Orlando have in store?

 

[pumba]

no love bugs..will move this so they can tell you what critters they are

 

[phamton]

Here's a real live picture of them not a drawing: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_MG068

It also gives some estimates of the active months for lovebugs.

They are out and about right now in Orlando but not too bad yet. I even found an urban legend about lovebugs at snopes that I found interesting:

Claim: "Love bugs" are the result of a genetic experiment gone wrong.

Status: False.

(Collected on the Internet, 1995)

Back when I was a student at Florida State, I was told that love bugs were accidentally released from a biological experiment station at the University of Florida.

(Collected on the Internet, 1998)

Supposedly, the lovebug was "created" in a lab at UF by crossing a fly and a mosquito in an attempt to create an enemy for mosquito larva. It supposedly got loose and now populates the whole southern US.

Every May and September these sex-crazed critters become an annoyance bordering on intolerable as the air teems with mating pairs. But the "love bugs" haven't always been part of the Floridian landscape, thus we've seen an abundance of "mad scientist" stories about how the state came to be infested with them. (Love bugs are not solely a Floridian plague; they range throughout the Gulf states and into Mexico and Central America, as well as up into Georgia and South Carolina. But they seem particularly enamored of Florida.)

Truth is, Mother Nature is far more to be feared than any mad scientist and is far more capricious. In this case, she inspired some of her children to migrate to a new area, and in doing so prompted the creation of a number of rumors which attempt to explain why these critters came to take up residence in places where they weren't found before.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/lurkers/lovebugs.htm

Bev

 

[Memaw2Wm]

YUCK!!! We were in Disney last week (August 24 - Sept 1) and those bugs were EVERYWHERE ... esp. at Fort Wilderness where we stayed.

I had no idea what they were ... my grandkids thought they were double-headed lightning bugs.

I happened to mention them to our skycap as we headed home ... he said they were lovebugs ... mated for life and were all over in May and August.

Funny thing is we were in Orlando the last week of August last year and didn't see a single one ... nor did I get a single mosquito bite ... this year I got eaten alive.

 

[crabmeal]

Thanks for the quick replies. Glad to hear they won't be around in Nov. One ride Im skipping is ITTBAB!

 

[Mickey Mouse Kid]

Love bugs are annoying! At school, they always seem to fly on <b>my</b> food (I eat outside)

 

[JLTYR]

My DH and I just got back from a trip which took about 2 hours round trip. The love bugs were so bad that we could barely see through the windshield and the front lights were almost not useful. It was insane. I used to live in Indiana and I had no idea, but here in Mississippi it's crazy. They are awful to clean off too!

 

[LadyAurora]

They were here when we moved in in April, and they are back again! Crazy bugs! I am glad to hear they won't be around long, though. At least they don't sting. They just enjoy themselves!

 

[PenskeSth1]

Love bugs are sooo Annoying! I was working outside today and had the windows down in my truck with the radio on.. When I went to roll the windows up about 1000 love bugs had moved in!
Beginning of May and now they are the worst.

 

[KittenLittle]

We went for Labor Day weekend. They clobbered us from Valdosta to Orlando,and freaked my DD out at HIFS. They did not bother us at DTD,or the Boardwalk,and we did not see too many at the JW Marriott. When we had a lovely breeze,we did not have the bugs.We had to stop several times to clean the windshield-so gross!!!! They do not bite,but they will fly around you. We just tried to tell bug-hating DD that they were like fireflies. You know,we were at the Boardwalk on Labor Day,and I did not get a single mosquito bite.I was sooo happy!

 

[Disneygal]

The only thing I like about lovebugs is that here in Fl, their appearance means
cooler weather is comming!

 

[gctong]

I just heard about these lovebugs. Now I'm getting concerned. We're going from9/17 - 9/25 and I assume this is PRIME season. Should I be freaked out (I'm a little afraid of bugs). Are they big like dragonflies or small like mosquitos? And since I'm renting a car, would that cause a problem with the rental company? I'd appreciate any help. I've never been to Florida in Sept and now I'm a little concerned.