UF/IFAS
Okeechobee County Extension ServiceUF/IFAS
Okeechobee County Extension Service
458 Highway 98 North
Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578
Phone: (863) 763-6469
E- mail: dfculbert@ifas.ufl.edu
May 5, 2004
Feature Article - for release the week of May 9, 2004
Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent
Splat!
Last week I was chatting with one of our Master Gardeners about what kinds of questions he was getting from his friends and neighbors. Dick Dutton gave me two topics he's heard from local gardeners: When is the next Master Gardner training class? And, the second one of interest to anyone who has recently driven our local roads: What can I do about those #@*^&~ Love Bugs!
In answer to the first question, our office has a few seats for Master Gardener trainees in an upcoming class scheduled for June and July. I'm helping Highlands County agent Chris Andrews who will be training persons that want to improve their green thumbs and help locals with Florida Yards. Call our office for details.
The second issue is the focus of
today's column - those aggravating bugs that go splat on your windshield and fly
in your eye at picnics. And despite the rumors, they are not a product of
research gone wild, but have migrated into our state from tropical America some
50 years ago. These little pests are actually flies and were reported in
Louisiana in the 1920's. By the 1940's love bugs had invaded Pensacola, and by
1975 love bugs had spread all over Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Love bugs are attracted to heat and exhaust fumes (gas and diesel fumes exposed to sunlight) at temperatures above 83 degrees F (usually between 10:00 a.m. and 4 p.m.). Hot engines and the vibrations of vehicles apparently contribute to the attraction of love bugs to highways.
Two flights occur each year - the spring flight occurs in late April and May and the second flight occurs in August and September. Active flights of love bugs will last for 4-5 weeks. Mating takes place almost immediately after emergence of the females. Adult females live only 2-3 days and feed on nectar.
Females
may lay as many as 350 eggs on decaying plant material.
Larvae feed on the decaying plant material and live on the soil surface
just beneath organic materials. Larval
love bugs can be found in pastures under cow manure. These
larva can be considered somewhat beneficial because they are decompo
There isn't any practical way to control love
bugs with insecticides in large open areas.
However, smaller areas around a home could be sprayed with a registered knock-down
insecticide. Love bug
numbers have been reduced in recent years by predators such as birds and
armadillos, and invertebrate organisms such as earwigs, beetle larvae and
centipedes. There are a number of fungi which also can reduce larval
populations. I don't know of any introductions of new parasites or predators.
There are several options available to reduce the problems facing motorists. By traveling at night, motorists can avoid the bugs - love bugs do not actively begin flight until mid morning temperatures rise to around 80 degrees F. and when bright sunlight is present. So one way to avoid them is to complete long distance or country driving before this time of day.
Special accessories can help reduce the impact of these bugs on your car: screens can be placed in front of the radiator to block incoming larvae. Deflector shields placed at the front of the hood helps reduce the number of love bugs impacting on the windshield and upper front finish. If traveling long distances during love bug seasons, a jug of water and a window squeegee in the trunk may be a good idea. Slowing down will also reduce the chances of splattering bugs on your car.
Splattered bugs should be washed off the car as soon as possible. Love bugs are more easily removed and the chance of damaging the finish on the car is reduced if the car has been waxed recently. When the love bug remains are left on the car for several days, the finish can be permanently damaged. Pre-soaking the bug splats for several minutes with water aids in their removal. When love bugs are numerous, some motorists spread a light film of baby oil over the front of the hood, above the windshield and on the grill and bumper. This practice will help make removal a simpler task.
Thanks to Polk County Urban Horticulturist David Shibles for allowing me to adapt his newsletter article for this column on Love Bugs. Master Gardeners can answer your questions about your Florida Yard - call or visit them on Tuesday afternoons here at our office. If you need additional information on Love Bugs, I've posted some reference links on our webpage at http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu , We also have publications available at our office at 458 Hwy 98 North. Our phone number is (863) 763-6469, and you can email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu . And, happy belated Mother's Day!
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References:
Culbert, Daniel F. "Love Bugs." Vero Beach Press Journal. May 9, 1999.
Denmark, H.A. and Mead, F.W. Lovebug. Gainesville: Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Featured Creatures, EENY-47. August 1998. Revised October 2001.
Leppla, Norman C. Living With Lovebugs (ENY-840). Gainesville: Florida Cooperative Extension Service, January 2007. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN694 McCann, James A., Arkin, Lori N. and Williams, James
D. "Nonindigenous
Nonaquatic Insects of Special Interest" In Status,
Pathway and Time of Introduction, Present Distribution, and Significant
Ecological and Economic Effects. Gainesville: UF Center for Aquatic
Plants. March 1996,
Shibles, David. "Love
Bugs." Bartow: Polk
County Urban Horticulture Newsletter, April, 2004.
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given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute
an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of
products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute
of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action
employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other
services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race,
color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. Florida Cooperative Extension
Service / IFAS /University of Florida. Larry A. Arrington, Acting Dean.
Last update: 03/05/2007
. This page is maintained by Dan
Culbert