Love bug season
 

Yup, they're back! Looks like it might be a bad season for us, good for them. They've landed on my cart in Sunset Point, Hemingway, Springdale. I've sat outside and they've decided to do their thing on my leg. ewwwwww!!! I really hate those bugs. Absolutely useless, not at all cute and icky on paint.

Just be careful driving -- the first time I saw a lovebug was when a swarm of them literally flew up on I75 and absolutely blinded me. I didn't think and turned on the windshield washers and made the mess even worse. Ended up having to drive at about 10 mph with my head hanging out the window with the dang bugs banging into my face until I could get to a rest stop to clean the windshield. At least in TV they're really just a nuisance rather than a hazard.

They're in Caroline, too, Redwitch.

Only place I have ever lived that had them was in Houston, TX. I hated those disgusting creatures.

Maybe if we rounded them all up and gave them sex counseling?

Condoms for lovebugs? Great new slogan for a Florida politician.

I have a great joke for that but I just can't use it here.

Something something something don't mix???

PM me. lol

How long do they normally hang around?

A couple of weeks in March (I think) and September. You'll see my semi-annual whine next year. I really hate the things!

Oh boy, we will be down in a little over a week. Have yet to experience them. I may join the whine fest. :cryin2:

We will be new to FL and will miss them this go-round, but will plan our vacations accordingly ;)

Maybe we should schedule our 'northern' trips during those times in May and Sept!

No problem. Just whack them and kill them. Same with gnats and skeeters.

Does the whack and kill method work on cavemen, too? And eww .. they squish when whacked. Gnats and skeeters don't.

Awww...do you blame them?
 

They're just LOVEBUGS who have fallen in LOVE with The Villages! From what I've read they migrated to Florida in 1947 from Louisiana, looked around, liked what they saw, and decided to stay. I plan to do the same thing!

I also learned an interesting fact about lovebugs. The female is the larger bug and the male the smaller one. Thus the female has control and drags the man around wherever she wants to go. Sounds familiar to me! :thumbup:

Trudy

Right on Sistah! :beer3:

Pam works
 

On my biweekly trip to Tampa Tuesday I encountered a considerable number of love bugs. It took a lot of scrubbing to clean them off the car.

Prior to today's trip I sprayed the front of the car with Pam. I encountered about the same number of bugs. When I got home I wiped (not scrubbed) them off with a wet cloth and soapy water. Definitely worth the effort.

Now I have to deal with the windshield, I didn't think it prudent to spray Pam on the windshield.

um, anyone want to rent our home in May and Sept? :D

[QUOTE=N'awlins Lady;292832]

I also learned an interesting fact about lovebugs. The female is the larger bug and the male the smaller one. Thus the female has control and drags the man around wherever she wants to go. Sounds familiar to me! :thumbup:

But after mating, the male dies and is dragged about by the female until she lays her eggs. : D

I take it all back. Pam does work but it is messy. It should be washed off right away.
That being said, I forgot to spray Pam on for the latest trip to Tampa. So,as soon as I arrived home, I decided to wash them off right away. I hosed them off as best I could and continued hosing keeping them wet for a few minutes. I then washed them off with my usual car wash detergent with ease.

The past few weeks I've been traveling back and forth from Tampa and/or Sarasota to TV, my car was completely covered the first time and I couldn't see out of the front window. It took forever to get them off, so the second trip, I stopped by the gas station on 46 and 301 and ran it through the car wash even though I didn't need gas... that was the best thing to do. Everything came off immediately with a Deluxe wash. That will be my MO from now on. Don't wait, have the car washed immediately. This season is the worse that I remember in the past 2 years... ewwwww

I ran into quite a few of lovebugs when I went to Tampa last week. I-75 seems to have areas where there are quite a few bugs. I washed the car as soon as I got home.

Love bugs
 

Here is my suggestion, before the Love bugs season starts, put a couple of good coats of wax on the front of the car, you would be surprise on how easy they come off when you wash the car.

Sigh, wish I could put wax on me. I hate when they land on me and I hate the squishy feeling when I kill 'em. They really are disgusting and nasty and vile and gross and ..... Hope their season is over soon!

Love Bugs are back. First spotted on Tuesday. They have returned early this year. :cus:

How long do they last? Driving down 75 from MI on 9/12-13. Will they be gone? This is our first winter in TV. New home and all!!

Clean them off your car as soon as you arrive. :cus:

Sorry meant how long is their season? One week? One month? Trying to figure out if we will be lucky enough to miss them. They sound disgusting.

They hang around about 3 weeks to a month, but who knows if they're coming this early. I really, really, really, really hate the things. On the plus side, other than their squishy innards doing damage to car paint, they're harmless.

Red, you know I love you, but you like alligators and hate love bugs.

You are a complex person, Red!;)

Fess up Red
 

Red... You really need to stop holding back on how you feel about these bugs... You are going to have a stroke if you don't tell us how you REALLY feel.... :)

Saw my first one this morning at Odell pool....YUCK!:cus::cus::cus:

Awww you beat me to it...making THE announcement!! Yup theeeyyy're bbaaackkk! Icky, icky, icky!!!

Are they around 24 hours a day or just at night?:undecided:

They have no shame. The fly...err..uh...connected, in the daytime!!!

Best thing to use to get them off you car is to use a damp fabric softener sheet. The sheet will leave a film on the car that needs to be washed off but it will not damage the paint. The key thing is to get them off as soon as possible and as Red says if not the will damage your paint.

VG

They are a nuisance but not as bad as described by a few posters here. I walk and jog almost every other day and I haven't had any bad repercussions. They are usually out only a couple of times during a normal day.

Since I'm never around in Lovebug Season, I probably will never see them first hand. But I'm fascinated and I love to hear about them. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to be allowed to stay long enough to see them.