SARASOTA, FL (WWSB/RNN) - Lovebug season has returned to the South.
The pesky little flies seem like they’re everywhere from Florida to Texas, especially along the Gulf Coast.
Here are some tips and facts about lovebugs from the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences:
- Lovebugs are attracted to light colored surfaces, especially those that have been freshly painted.
- They are also attracted to exhaust fumes, which explains why they like to congregate along busy roads.
- After mating, females will lay about 350 eggs and then die within 3-4 days.
- Lovebugs are most active between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Lovebugs can damage your car's paint if not washed off within a week. (to clean off, soak with water, then use cotton rag to scrub them off)
- Lovebugs can also clog radiators and cause your vehicle to overheat.
- The lovebug outbreak soon spread southward, crossing deep into Mississippi and Alabama, and finally reaching Florida in 1947.
- They have since migrated northward, reaching from Georgia to South Carolina.
- Lovebugs have two key outbreaks in population a year: once during April–May and the next in August–September.
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