Hate Lovebugs But Be Nice To Your Car

Business & Real Estate - PLANT LIFE

May 10, 1997|By Eleanor Foerste

Mother's Day is a great time to express our love and share our feelings of appreciation for Mom. There are many ways to thank her. Give her a blooming plant to brighten her room. Take her to her

favorite restaurant so she doesn't have to cook or wash dishes. Plant a flower garden for a gift that keeps on giving.

But if you're thinking about scheduling an outdoor picnic, you had better go shopping instead. Lovebugs are still active and messing up windshields and plans for outdoor activities. People call them lovebugs, but not in honor of the day. They most often observe the black insects with red markings on their thorax (the middle body segment) in a loving embrace, with the larger female pulling the attached male along for the ride.

Lovebugs are a major nuisance for about four or five weeks. The population should decline by the Memorial Day weekend. Meanwhile, follow these tips to reduce your frustration level now and when they return in September.

Drive during the early morning or late evening when insects are lying in the grass and shrubs. Lovebugs are most active during midday, and flights are at their peak during daylight when temperatures are above 68 degrees. Research by the Florida Department of Agriculture showed peak flights from 8 to 11 a.m. and then again from 4 to 5 p.m.

Use a deflector to divert bugs over the vehicle and away from the windshield. Wash the windshield and front of your vehicle soon after encounters with lovebugs to reduce damage to the finish. Acids in the insects' bodies and from the decomposition process will etch paint. Soak with water for about five minutes before scrubbing and use a soft scrub pad that won't scratch the paint finish.

Use a special screen to keep lovebugs out of the radiator. A thick layer of bug bodies on the radiator interferes with the cooling process and can cause engine overheating.

If lovebugs are annoying, avoid outdoor activities when lovebugs are active.

Lovebugs don't sting or bite. They feed on the nectar of plants, especially the invasive Brazilian pepper. That alone should encourage citizens to remove the weedy plant.

Larvae, the immature stage of lovebugs, are beneficial organisms. They are decomposers, feeding on decaying organic matter and recycling it into humus. They are partial to damp areas and cow pastures and feed under cow manure. This doesn't mean you should do away with mulch or cows. The benefits still far outweigh the disadvantages.

How do we control these aggravating creatures? Aerial application of pesticides is not justified or effective. We are fortunate to have many natural predators and diseases helping to keep lovebugs under control.

We know that adult lovebugs are especially attracted to exhaust fumes and hot engines. So it seems as if vehicles traveling Interstate 4, the turnpike and the Greeneway corridors running through the open countryside must therefore be reducing the population of lovebugs.

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