It’s the time of year that lovebugs start to become a problem once again. After periods of strong rainfall, they seem to fill the air with swarms of mating pairs. You may not be too familiar with them because the lovebug insect is relatively new to Florida. It’s important to learn about the Florida lovebug.
About Lovebugs
Lovebugs aren’t as cute as their name suggests. They’re black flies, but they have an orange spot toward their heads. The name “lovebugs” comes from how they’re often seen: flying together in mating pairs.
OK, that is cute…until they swarm. Lovebug swarms get very bad. They can coat just about every surface. They don’t even mind if that surface is you or your dog. That gets awkward pretty quickly.
Don’t try to drive through the swarms. They have been known to clog car radiators and cause expensive damage.
The worst season for them is September into October. A single lovebug can lay up to 300 eggs.
Getting Rid of Lovebugs
Prevention is important, and it is the key to getting rid of lovebugs. Start by dumping out all stagnant water. Also remove any decrepit organic matter, such as old logs and tree stumps. Yet lovebugs aren’t too particular. If they descend upon you, this will help mitigate the problem, but it won’t eliminate it. A complete environmental change may be necessary.
Chemical spraying isn’t very effective against lovebugs because they go everywhere. You can’t spray everywhere. The key to outdoor pest control like this is environmental changes – targeting and treating still water in ecologically safe ways, eliminating the places they’ll lay their larvae and feed. A property can be changed enough so that lovebugs will tend to pass it over.
The more places this can be done in close proximity, such as in a neighborhood, the better. If several houses in a row are properly treated against lovebugs, the swarms will tend to go somewhere else.
Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lovebugs.jpg