Love bugs - they're here!

[flynnibus]

I don't know where everyone gets the idea that all Florida houses are filled with scary bugs, lol

Maybe because everyone feels its necessary to build screen enclosures for every deck and pool??

 

[lunchbox1175]

^^^ It's not just the insects. It's the weather, alligators, sharks, poisonous snakes, lack of terrain, panthers, hurricanes, no mountains, etc.

Lack of terrain and mountains is something that I miss about Cali and hate about Texas. Haven't been back to Cali in about 5 years, but went to Oregon recently and realized how much I missed the terrain and laid back lifestyle. I do not however miss the much higher cost of living.

 

[lunchbox1175]

I see a gator every time we go to WDW, the bus driver on the DME points it out, there is one that lives in one of the little ponds along the highway, and he is pretty much always out on the shore.

 

[Master Yoda]

Maybe because everyone feels its necessary to build screen enclosures for every deck and pool??

In many cases that is to satisfy the building code requiring an automatically latching gate around a swimming pool. Keeping the bugs out is a bonus. Many HOA in higher end subdivisions do not allow fences making the screen enclosures the only option.

 

[ToyStoryMiss]

Thank goodness we don't have them in our area (just those stupid ants!), but since we'll be in Florida in a few days..eurgh. I hate those love bugs to the core.

But oh well...we can survive the swarms.

 

[flynnibus]

In many cases that is to satisfy the building code requiring an automatically latching gate around a swimming pool. Keeping the bugs out is a bonus. Many HOA in higher end subdivisions do not allow fences making the screen enclosures the only option.

The code requirements for fencing around ground pools is pretty common.. while the full screen enclosures hanging off the houses is a south/FL thing It's certainly not cheaper than building a regular aluminum fence. And no I don't buy into they put in screens because the HOA banned the fence. That would never hold up to challenges. And trust me.. I'm intimately familiar with HOA operations.

Either way.. it's a common site you see in FL that most other parts of the country do not have. Hence a contributor to the perception

 

[willtravel]

Think I 'll stick to late October/early November for visiting WDW.........

 

[kfergdisney]

I live in the South and have never seen the love bugs until I went to help in Southern Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. They weren't everywhere, but in certain places they would cover tree stumps. It was a very intersting sight. We had lots of laughs with those bugs.

 

[MissM]

Maybe because everyone feels its necessary to build screen enclosures for every deck and pool??

It has the added benefit of maintaining pool temperature as well. If you have an uncovered backyard pool, it turns into a hot tub in the summer. It gets too hot to comfortably enjoy swimming in. But if it's screened, not only do you keep bugs away, random birds/animals from getting in it, you also help keep it cooler by diffusing some of the direct heat of the sun. My neighbor when I was a kid had a pool larger than mine but without a screen, it was SO HOT you never wanted to swim in it. Mine, though smaller, had a screen so we always used mine.

 

[willtravel]

It has the added benefit of maintaining pool temperature as well. If you have an uncovered backyard pool, it turns into a hot tub in the summer. It gets too hot to comfortably enjoy swimming in. But if it's screened, not only do you keep bugs away, random birds/animals from getting in it, you also help keep it cooler by diffusing some of the direct heat of the sun. My neighbor when I was a kid had a pool larger than mine but without a screen, it was SO HOT you never wanted to swim in it. Mine, though smaller, had a screen so we always used mine.

Just wondering if you can tell if over the years you have seen more than say 5-10-15 years ago? Are they like locust and lay eggs somewhere and die off?

 

[Master Yoda]

Just wondering if you can tell if over the years you have seen more than say 5-10-15 years ago? Are they like locust and lay eggs somewhere and die off?

They will vary from year to year, location to location, etc. They live, mate, lay larva in the leaf litter and grass and die. That is pretty much their life cycle.

Weather is one of the bigger factors in how bad the swars are.. The wetter it is, the more of them there will be. There is also a few parasitic fungi that will destroy the larva as well as a number of other predators (birds, spiders,etc) Supposedly, the populations are somewhat stable, but local conditions can produce small or larger than normal swarms.

 

[JoeCamel]

I remember visiting my parents in FL during the 70's and the fronts of the cars would be covered during season to the point radiators would be clogged and the cars would overheat. I don't know if it is from all the development since then but a bucket by the garage and a brush takes care of them now, not bad at all. If you run up in the middle of the state through the cow pastures then you still get covered to the point that you cannot see out the windshield.

Glad where I am they are hit or miss and not a constant plague anymore.

 

[luv]

Maybe because everyone feels its necessary to build screen enclosures for every deck and pool??

I had to smile at that. I have one of those screened enclosures around my pool. You have to have something around it. The screens keep things from falling into the pool - bugs, grass, all kinds of stuff. I've often thought about how people who don't have enclosures must spend a lot of time skimming and vacuuming the pool!

I don't even have screens on the sliding glass doors. i open them wide. The whole area is screened. But people who open windows and sliding glass doors usually have screens, all over the country. They're just on tracks with the glass.

Raven can be happy in California. You can be happy wherever you are. Me...I'm happy in Florida.

 

[MissM]

Just wondering if you can tell if over the years you have seen more than say 5-10-15 years ago? Are they like locust and lay eggs somewhere and die off?

They will vary from year to year, location to location, etc. They live, mate, lay larva in the leaf litter and grass and die. That is pretty much their life cycle.

Yeah, Yoda is right. It really does vary. I'd say around here in the Tampa Bay area, though there's been a lot less on average in recent years than say, 10 years ago. Many love bug seasons (May and September) pass without any real notice. Now, that said, you will ALWAYS encounter more driving on an interstate or highway then in a neighborhood just because you're traveling through a larger distance and because they are attracted to exhaust from cars:

Lovebugs are attracted to automobiles. After mating, lovebugs disperse as coupled pairs, presumably flying in search of nectar on which to feed and suitable oviposition sites. Mated females are attracted to sandy sites with adequate moisture, dead leaves, grass clippings, cow manure, and other decomposing organic debris. Cherry (1998) found that lovebugs are attracted to anethole, an essential oil found in plants that also attracts bees. Additionally, female lovebugs are attracted to UV irradiated aldehydes, a major component of automobile exhaust fumes (Callahan and Denmark 1973, Callahan et al. 1985). They may confuse these chemicals with the odors emitted from decaying organic matter at typical oviposition sites. Heat has also been shown to attract lovebugs (Whitesell 1974) and contribute to their abundance on highways.
Source: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in694​

 

[luv]

Yeah, Yoda is right. It really does vary. I'd say around here in the Tampa Bay area, though there's been a lot less on average in recent years than say, 10 years ago. Many love bug seasons (May and September) pass without any real notice. Now, that said, you will ALWAYS encounter more driving on an interstate or highway then in a neighborhood just because you're traveling through a larger distance and because they are attracted to exhaust from cars:

Lovebugs are attracted to automobiles. After mating, lovebugs disperse as coupled pairs, presumably flying in search of nectar on which to feed and suitable oviposition sites. Mated females are attracted to sandy sites with adequate moisture, dead leaves, grass clippings, cow manure, and other decomposing organic debris. Cherry (1998) found that lovebugs are attracted to anethole, an essential oil found in plants that also attracts bees. Additionally, female lovebugs are attracted to UV irradiated aldehydes, a major component of automobile exhaust fumes (Callahan and Denmark 1973, Callahan et al. 1985). They may confuse these chemicals with the odors emitted from decaying organic matter at typical oviposition sites. Heat has also been shown to attract lovebugs (Whitesell 1974) and contribute to their abundance on highways.
Source: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in694​

That's funny. I was just saying to someone (who thought I was mistaken) that I think I see more love bugs at gas stations than other places. Maybe I do!

(Maybe I don't. )