The pesky lovebug invades the Pine Belt during its fall mating season

Ellen Ciurczak
Hattiesburg American

Lovebugs. It seems like they're everywhere these days — hovering in tall grass, swarming around light-colored objects, smashing into the car windshield. Why are they so plentiful in the Pine Belt right now?

"This is the normal time of year for them to emerge and breed," said Mike Davis, University of Southern Mississippi associate professor in biology and director of Lake Thoreau Environmental Center. "They'll breed a little bit in the spring and the big breeding season comes in the late summer and early fall.

"This season it certainly seems like there are more of them than others."

Lovebugs are found in the Gulf States including Mississippi. Localized lovebug flights can number in the hundreds of thousands, though citizens of the Pine Belt probably haven't noticed that many swarming the area.

A male and female lovebug mating.

"We use the term 'bug' loosely," said Douglas Lipka, William Carey University assistant professor of biology. "Actually, the lovebugs are a march fly.

"What happened is 120 days ago, they laid their fertilized eggs, which hatched and formed a larvae," Lipka said. "The larvae survive in dead leaves (and grass) and material like that."

Davis said the climate recently has been particularly favorable to lovebug larvae.

"We had a warm winter, and then we had a wet summer," he said. "We had a warm, but not overly hot summer. 

"Imagine if you are a lovebug larvae rooting in the grass and it's moist and warm — you're going to thrive."

More:County, city officials cracking down on mosquitoes after reports of West Nile

The lovebugs lay eggs in the fall and spring. The larvae gestate for 120 days from May-June to August-September and for 240 days from August-September to May-June.

"They come out as adults," Lipka said. "The males come out first and they'll hover over a thatched area, and they'll select a female and mate with her and stay with her for 5-7 days. They'll fly around together for the purpose of laying eggs.

"They come out in swarms for three to four weeks like this. They don't bite, but they're a nuisance."

Lovebugs can be found in grassy areas and along highways, where they are attracted to the carbon dioxide in car exhaust. They die in large numbers on automobile windshields, hoods and radiator grills. Their body chemistry becomes acidic if left on a car for a day.

Most newer cars have paint with protective coating, so the lovebug's acidity is not a problem. But paint jobs on older models may get pitted and etched by the 4.25 pH of a dead lovebug.

"They're a pest," Davis said. "They fly in your mouth when you're mowing the grass and they fly into your car, but they're not an agricultural pest, so no one actually monitors them and keeps up with their numbers."

Lovebugs also like light-colored surfaces and fresh paint. White cars seem to be a particular favorite.

If lovebugs are driving you crazy, just wait.

"As soon as they're done mating, the female will lay her eggs (and they'll die)," Davis said. "They've got a few more weeks, and they'll go away." 

Lovebug: Fact or Fiction

FICTION: Sometime in the 1950s University of Florida researchers produce the lovebug in an experiment gone horribly wrong.

FACT: The lovebug was first described in 1940 by a man named D.E. Hardy from Galveston, Texas. He reported it to be widely spread.

FICTION: The lovebug was created to control mosquito populations in Florida.

FACT: Migration explains the introduction of lovebugs into Florida and other Southeastern states.

FACT: The lovebug's reputation as a nuisance is not due to any bite or sting but to its slightly acidic body chemistry.

FACT: A soaking with water for about five minutes followed by a scrubbing within 15-20 minutes should remove most of a lovebug's remains from a car without harming automobile paint.