Lovebug Plague!
 

It's like something from the bible here. Now I know how the Egyptians must have felt back when the Pharaoh wouldn't believe. I just walked into our lanai and the swarm of lovebugs all around outside is like a dark cloud. Thousands upon thousands, We've gone through 2 previous years with virtually none. They are getting even with us, Never seen anything like it. From all the reading I have been doing there seems to be no way to stop them or keep them away. Is there?

I saw this on Facebook Village Insider group, I haven’t tried it, but others are swearing by it:

Put water in a bright white bowl. Add a couple spoonfuls of baby oil and sit it outside.

They show a disgusting picture of the bowl full of the bugs after 30 minutes.

Check back into Facebook..........didn't work.

Article about it in USA Today this week:

Lovebugs are swarming Florida cars: Facts about the invasive bugs

I have read they are attracted to the color WHITE from real sources. I can sort of vouch for that because where ever we park our all white car they seem to swarm. When we back out of the garage it's unbelievable. They seem to come out of nowhere and follow us until we are in the street with some speed. It's really gross. Best one I read was to spray your car with cooking oil so they slide off!

Two of the three responses are positive, the third state what lovebugs feed on.....

Haven’t seen any negative/failed comments?

With zillions of them flying around our lanai & patio even if that worked it wouldn't make a dent. I tried videoing but they don't show because of our screen. It's remarkable how many there are. I "fog" them with some RAID so we can leave the house and the place is littered with F-Bug bodies. Used a leaf blower to blow 'em onto the grass. REALLY GROSS!

I came out of Ace yesterday and my white car was covered with them, I couldn't get in the car without a few getting inside the car.

Last week we drove back up from a visit to Miami. After unpacking, we took the car straight over to the car wash!

Yes, they’re terrible!

Our "go kit" includes a can of Raid, a white towel to fake surrender and swat them away and a bottle of dawn dish soap with water and a sponge to get them off the windshield. "They" say dawn is the best thing to remove their splattered remains from glass.

Here are the responses:

• https://scontent.ftpa1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...24&oe=5D6FE84F
  Kathleen Donaghue I tried the experiment on Monday, so far (1) bug has died.
  
  
  
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  Dawn Schilling I tried it last nite and it didnt work for me
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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• https://scontent.ftpa1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...32&oe=5D608D77
  Eric Jansenhttps://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php...JUaDQAiBQe.png It wasn’t effective for us...three love bugs...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Well Dewilson58 those are on a different post on FB. Is that a post not the same page? If so haven’t seen it.

Can’t please everybody.


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FOX had a report that the idea was from U of Florida...

Hate love-bugs? A white bowl filled with baby oil and water could help - Story | WOFL

I have found a wet dryer sheet (like Bounce) helps remove them from my white car.

This too shall pass...……………………….

Drove to Port Canaveral four days ago and the car was covered with those pesky Love Bugs and their awful remnants. Got back home today and will work on the mess tomorrow. I tested a spot on the windshield today by generously spraying Turtle Wax Bug and Tar Remover. I let is sit for 30 minutes. Everything wiped off with a paper towel with ease. That is how we plan to clean the car early tomorrow morning when it is cooler. Then, off to the car wash to make it sparkle.

I had to take my Bride to the airport. Prior to leaving, I sprayed Pledge on the front of the car. Got home and just hosed off the critters. Worked fairly well.




I think I heard about using Pledge on ToTV during the last Love Season.

I use Bug's B Gone, it melts them away and you wash it off, been using it for years, best bug removed I've ever used.

Isn’t that kind of like scooping sand out of the ocean. Thereareamillion new ivebugseerminute

I had to drive down to Winter Park and back yesterday afternoon and went straight to the car wash in Wildwood to clean that layer of goop off when I got back.

One of the news channels in Orlando had a small piece last week saying that the lovebug population was down; I don't know where, it's the worst I've seen in 3 years in Louisiana and 4 years here.

At the height of our plague this afternoon after reading one of these messages I put out the "while bowl with water and J&J Baby oil" right in the middle of the plague and all I found in it after an hour+ was a few leaves. HOWEVER I did find what I believe was the cause of this sudden F-Bug attack on our home. Our grill!

We have a pellet grill (aka smoker - which only really visibly "smokes" for the first 10 mins when set at high temps which it was) in which I was cooking a boatload of veggies for my wife and that is when it all started. There were so many it looked like it was pouring F-Bugs. In any case after the grill was shut off for about 20 minutes and cooled down they became just the usual annoying numbers. You really had to see "the swarm" to believe it. They were swarming the roof, around the lanai and on the patio. The major part of the swarm was not over the grill on the patio but on the opposite side of it where the lanai faces the street in front. No grilling tomorrow so I will see if they attack again. There were bodies strewn all over the patio from the Raid bomb.

There is a product called "REJEX". It's liquid and sold at ACE hardware I believe. A good coat on the car and windshield and they come off with a stream from the garden hose, just sayin.:ho:

Everyone seems to go to the car wash to remove lovebugs. I hose the car down and let it sit for 5 minute and then hose again and almost all are gone. A quick sponging of the hood , grill and windshield and job done.

This after my first experience collecting lovebugs on a trip to MCO for a flight to Italy for two weeks. Came back to love bug collection on car sitting for two weeks in sun. Had permanent imprint on car paint of little white specks where paint was etched off . That is thing to worry about. Don't collect lovebugs, park and fly. If you collect lovebugs WASH then park and fly.

Picture worth thousand...>

We were in Walt Disney World for 4 days and the lovebugs were the worst I’ve seen in the 13 years I’ve lived here. Felt badly for those who are unfamiliar with the flying critters, especially the little ones who initially reacted as we all might not knowing they’re relatively harmless...with screams. Pretty soon they’ll all be gone....till the next time...lol.

Blech I'm only going to be in TV for 7 days this trip. I really hope I don't have to spend most of it battling lovebugs on my lanai.

They often come right around this time every year and then in the Fall too. Lovebugs are swarming Florida cars: Facts about the invasive bugs

Glad i took my ice scraper with me
 

Ice scrapers are hard to find in Florida.
Hint just like when you had forgotten, or broken your official ice scraper a credit card also works.

As to the radiator, you want to hose it off backwards-back to the front. Otherwise you are forcing the mess into the radiator.

Where are all the birds? Hiding from the love bugs? They are plentiful and two for the same effort. Do they not taste good?
????? CAN'T HELP IT-a sign love bugs BOGO. Special-the first one is free too.

WOW that is disgusting.

Yikes. Never even thought about bikers especially the idiots who don’t wear helmets at 80mph. I guess the bugs are high in protein but low in calories. The damned wings must get caught between their teeth!



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Not sure if I read it on here but one thing I tried after reading about it is Dawn dishwashing liquid. I cleaned the windshield with Dawn and water on paper towels and the dried mess just melted away as I wiped. The windshield was immaculate when I was done and only took a couple of minutes to clean it then a couple more minutes to rinse. I would have used the Dawn on the body of the car but thought it may be too harsh for the paint.

This morning I doused the car with Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover and let it sit for 30 minutes. The stuff melted away and the car was a piece of cake to wipe down. Off to the car wash and our car is sparkling clean again.

They use dawn on baby ducks coated with oil so I doubt it would be any harsher on a car finish then PLEDGE. (start at 1:42) Dawn Saves Wildlife Episode 1: Duck, Duck, Oil - YouTube it was all over the news after the big oil spill in the gulf years ago. Also check out post #10 in this thread re: dawn.

Those who have lived in Florida most of their life claim that WD40 is actually the best thing to keep love bugs from sticking to their car. The trick is to apply it before! I must admit that I have never tried it.

Dawn will strip the wax off your car.


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Believe it or not, they used to be worse.

Think lovebugs are bad now? They once caused safety crisis - News - The Ledger - Lakeland, FL

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Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover is pretty good. It also put a thin coat of wax. Next year wax your car before they come. It helps get them off easier. I saw the results of not cleaning them off in a Toyota used car lot. The paint jobs were ruined. It looked like their hoods was pelted with stones. Only solution was repaint. Get them off within 48 hours.

"I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong."

I'll be in TV on Thursday. Do y'all anticipate this to still be in full swing by then? Or mostly done? Or is it almost done already? I know once they start mating, they're more or less done within a couple of days. But I also know the whole process can take a week, two weeks, three weeks? in any given area.

Reason I'm asking: Should I prepare a spray bottle for my windshield to prepare for my drive down from New England. The car itself I can always wash when I get there but it'd be really helpful to know if I will need a "bug kit" just in case a swarm happens by while I'm driving up Morse.

Luv Bugs
 

Your exposure to love bugs in The Villages is so minimum that it is laughable. Other areas of Florida, primarily Brevard County, have these pests in numbers that you would not believe. Entire walls of condos will be totally black. I would guess we have about 1% of the volume here that residents experience over in Melbourne and surrounding areas. Fortunately, they only last a few weeks and don't bite.

I don't care if they bite or not, and their percentage of volume is meaningless. What I want to know is if there's a likelihood that I'll encounter a swarm, next week, or is the worst of it (however bad or not-so-bad it might be) over?

I experienced it in September when we were on our Lifestyle Visit. Our car wasn't affected at all down in the Brownwood area. But we looked at house up on Schwartz that was infested and the lovebugs had gotten onto the glassed-in lanai and into the kitchen. If we had been living in that house, I'm sure I would've needed to keep the car washed and the windshield sprayed regularly til it was over.

So is it over, or isn't it?