Our Sense of Humor

Lovebugs: You Get More Splat w/ the Pair!

Summer seems to bring everything south, but one sure sign of summer is the twice-yearly appearance of black swarms of conspicuously conjoined flying creatures, all of them with an apparent death wish as your car approaches.

They are Plecia nearctica Hardy, aka the "lovebug." Ken Gioeli, natural resources agent for the University of Florida, knows & loves these bugs like almost no one else.

“Male lovebugs are about one-quarter of an inch long; females are about one-third of an inch long.” Females are larger, Gioeli said, because about 70% of their bodies are ovaries, which can hold 300 eggs. "So you get more splat from a female than from a male," he said. "Of course, you get the most splat when you hit a pair."

Moving up from their native Central America, lovebugs are now spread throughout the South. They were first reported in Florida in 1947 near Pensacola and covered all of Florida by 1960s or early 1970s, and continued further into Georgia, Alabama and beyond.

The University of Florida vehemently denies the rumor that its entomologists brought the bugs here, but it’s safe to assume man interceded on Nature’s behalf and brought the invasion.

Two flights of lovebugs occur each year -- late April through May and late August through September. Each flight lasts four to five weeks, and the lovebug is here to stay

“There’s no effective way to get rid of lovebugs that I know of, and I don’t see anything coming down the pike, except another splat," Gioeli said with a chuckle. “They’re amazing little beasties.”

Lovebugs have no natural predators in Florida, he added, but the larvae eat decaying leaves, creating organic matter; and adults feed on nectar, helping pollinate plants.

Driving through a swarm of lovebugs can be more than a nuisance. Windshields covered with the splotchy yellow remains can obscure vision and lovebug bodies can clog radiator fins, causing overheating. And the acidic remains can damage a car's finish if not removed within a few days.

You might want to save certain trips for evening hours; lovebugs reach peak activity between 10 am - 5 pm and stop flying at dusk.

Here’s something you might not know - not all conjoined lovebugs are in the act of mating. If the male is turned around backward on the female, they've already mated, and he's trying to keep other suitors away. Lovebug reproduction is a process of "sperm precedence," meaning the last male to have sex with the female is always the father. “Hang on!”