Love Bug Season!

Everyone’s favorite time of year! Our favorite reason to wash the car…

Lovebugs are not escaped from the University of Florida, they are actually a species of the “march” fly from South and Central America and now all the gulf states. They come around twice a year, first between April and May and then again in August and September. The insects are attracted to decomposing plants and exhaust fumes. These bugs love heat and of course like hot engines and exhaust. If you have a light colored vehicle, the heat reflects off and is attractive to your new friends. They’ve been observed in the U.S. since at least the late 1930s. It’s believed that lovebugs first entered the U.S. by natural range expansion, or possibly through an accidental introduction. Florida was one of the last Gulf Coast states the lovebug moved into. They were initially reported in 1949, in Escambia County – the county at the westernmost tip of Florida’s Panhandle. The insect gradually made its way further east and south into peninsular Florida.

So how do you get lovebugs off your car? Prevention. Wash and wax your car and rv now. This makes it easier to remove our friends. Some people say cooking spray but I like the idea of wax better.

When it’s time to remove your little friends, get them really wet and let them soak. Then when the splats are saturated, use a wet dryer sheet to remove them, easy-peasy.

Some say to use a bug screen, and I would caution against this. More than likely it will scratch your paint buffeting in the wind. A screen that just covers the radiator may be the ticket.

More interesting facts can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug

eX