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Attack of the Love Bugs!!!
- Thread starter ImaYoyo
- Start date
angelfaerie52
New Member
Yep, I have seen them, too, but not as bad as I remember. Let's hope the paint on my new car is ok...
lilclerk
Well-Known Member
Eeewwww. I wouldn't even ride a bicycle when they're around.
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
I guess they know about celebration 25...
Thanks for the update.
Thanks for the update.
Imagineer Mitch
Active Member
i experience them everytime i vist WDW and one of the CM said that they were man made which means someone matted them (how ever u spell that) but with two different types of bugs, so you can think that person for making the two bugs come together to form love bugs
phenom1307
New Member
i hate those bugs...i was attacked by at least 50 of them when i was working one day...and all the guest got swarmed too which was funny because they kept complaining to me like i would be able to stop them hahaha
moosicalnwdwmad
New Member
Sorry Im Dumb Lol What are the Love Bugs?
Lol What are the Love Bugs?
Imagineer Mitch
Active Member
they are bugs that are attached by the butts lol:lol:Sorry Im Dumb
Lol, that's been the rumor for a looooooong time, that they were a University of Central Florida and/or University of Florida experiment gone wrong... that's an urban legend however.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
that's not true...I assure you, there are completely natural animals.
Love bug
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Love bug (disambiguation).
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details.
Love bug
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Bibionidae
Genus: Plecia
Species: P. nearctica
Binomial name
Plecia nearctica
The love bug (also known as march fly, honeymoon fly, telephone bug, kissybug and double-headed bug) (scientific name Plecia nearctica) is a small flying insect common to the southern United States, especially along the Gulf Coast. It is most often known as a serious nuisance to motorists driving at high speeds when the insects spatter on their windshields in great numbers.
It was first described in 1940 by D. E. Hardy of Galveston, Texas. At that time, he reported the incidence of love bugs to be widespread, but most common in Texas and Louisiana. By the end of the 20th century, however, it had spread heavily to all areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Georgia, South Carolina, and other parts of Central America. L. A. Hetrick, writing in 1970, found it very widespread in Florida and described its flights as reaching altitudes of 300 m to 450 m and extending several kilometers over the Gulf.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Biology and Behavior
* 2 Folklore
* 3 Footnotes
* 4 References
[edit] Biology and Behavior
Love bug larvae grow up in grassy areas and feed on dead vegetation. The adult love bug does not eat, but subsists on the food taken in during its larval stage. Upon reaching maturity the love bug spends the entirety of its life copulating with its mate, hence its numerous romantic nicknames. The male and female attach themselves at the rear of the abdomen and remain that way at all times, even in flight. In fact, after mating, the male dies and is dragged around by the female until she lays her eggs. Females lay up to 350 eggs in debris, and about 20 days later the eggs hatch into larvae. The larvae may live for months before passing into adulthood.
Commercial use of cut sod for "instant" green lawns transports great numbers of the larvae of this insect, once found only in agricultural areas, to all of the newly built developments sprouting up in the towns of the regions where its numbers are increasing so rapidly as a new phenomenon. They might be 1 cm for males, and 2 cm for females.
Love bug swarms can number in the hundreds of thousands and blanket an entire small town in a dense cloud of insects. The thick swarming of these slow flying, almost drifting, insects almost is reminiscent of snow fall. The swarms occur twice each year, first in late spring, then again in late summer. The spring swarm occurs during late April and May. The summer swarm occurs during late August and September. Swarms extend over periods of 4 to 5 weeks.[1] Mating takes place almost immediately after emergence of the females. Adult females live only 2-3 days.
Love bugs covering a bus stop at Walt Disney World in September 2006
Love bugs covering a bus stop at Walt Disney World in September 2006
Its character as a public nuisance is due not to its bite or sting (as it is not capable of either), but to its apparently highly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne love bugs exist in enormous numbers near highways, they die en masse on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills when the vehicles travel at high speeds. If left for more than an hour or two, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove, and their acidity pits and etches automotive paint and chrome [1]. Driving in more developed areas where breeding is less likely to occur, or driving at lower speeds for the breeding season are both alternatives to having to scrape them off daily.
Some individuals prefer to scrub the insects remains from their cars using dryer sheets, though no scientific evidence exists that shows they are more or less efficient than any other material.
[edit] Folklore
There is a hypothesis that love bugs give a clue as to whether there is going to be an active hurricane season. Florida, in 2004 saw a lot of love bugs prior to an active hurricane season. In 2005 and 2006, there were fewer love bugs and the state had relatively quiet hurricane years. This year (2007), in May, there are loads of love bugs and it is predicted that the Atlantic is to have a very active storm season from June to November. However, many people theorize that the lack of love bugs in 2005 and 2006 was merely the result of the active hurricane season in 2004 and that the love bug population in 2007 is merely the species at its full force.
Popular tongue-in-cheek lore holds that love bugs are synthetic, the result of a University of Florida genetics experiment gone wrong. Scientific speculation about the love bug abounds: As the creature seemed to have no natural enemies its population was perceived to be reaching enormous levels. This is correct; love bugs are not a favored food of most insectivores, but they are harmless and merely do not taste good, and thus, do not get eaten. While many predators, including red fire ants, don't eat them, love bugs' larvae -- and some adults -- are food for birds such as quail and robins, and also, spiders. Some think that the apparent population explosion may for the largest part be explained by the fact that with increasing automobile use and rising population, the nuisance that love bugs may be has come to more widespread notice since at the time of Hardy's study, the density of the road network and the extent of personal transport ownership in the species' area of occurrence was much lower than it is today. Love bugs are beneficial because their larvae help recycle organic material and improve the soil. The larvae also eat earwigs, beetle larvae, and other pests.
mousefan1972
Well-Known Member
What kind of bike do you have? I had a Ninja 500 until my first pregnancy... then I sold it, as per my agreement with DH. Sigh. I miss it!!
bayoutinkbelle
Active Member
Ah, love bugs. Hate them on my car, but they are harmless generally. I kinda like them. Hurricane Humberto blew a massive number of them into my area so I've spent way too much money lately at the car wash. Then I drive home from work at night and slaughter hundreds all over again.
I have 2. A UM Renegade and an HD Sporster.What kind of bike do you have? I had a Ninja 500 until my first pregnancy... then I sold it, as per my agreement with DH. Sigh. I miss it!!
nibblesandbits
Well-Known Member
I actually think I noticed them starting to appear while I was on my trip earlier this month. They did start coming out more towards the end...I meant to post something, but I've been a tad busy since getting back.
mousefan1972
Well-Known Member
Yeah, living in florida you can ride them year round. Much better than my days in Cleveland... I was lucky to ride 4 months out of the year then. I've got my eyes on a new Dyna Glide... but if I buy that, I'd have to take fewer cruises on DCL... not so sure that's happening...