What Are Love Bugs And Where Do They Come From

Hardy but was seen in.

What are love bugs and where do they come from. The love bug plecia nearctica is a species of march fly found in parts of central america and the southeastern united states especially along the gulf coast. Despite their name few people really enjoy when love bugs pop up in may and september despite urban myths love bugs didn t come about from a cloning experiment they didn t escape from a. After about three weeks the larvae hatch and feed on the rotting plants. Lovebugs become a nuisance during two short periods of each year.

When they do they have an unfortunate habit of doing so along roads and highways where they risk encounters with cars. Florida lovebugs emerge and mate en masse once in the spring april to may and again in late summer august to september. But not even death can t disconnect these lovers and the female is left to drag around the male s body until she lays her eggs and dies a few days later. Learning more about the life cycle of june bugs as well as their eating and mating habits makes it easier to understand where they come from why they stay awhile and where they go.

Love is a battlefield and being hit by my car isn t the only way love bugs pass onto the next world. Do they have any ecological benefit. They love diesel exhaust warm car hoods and engines. The bugs don t normally reside in your hair that s not typical for them thus if you suspect somebody s living in your hair most probably you have lice than bed bugs.

Love bugs congregate at intersections traffic lights filling stations and truck stops. It is also known as the honeymoon fly or double headed bug during and after mating matured pairs remain together even in flight for up to several days. The male flies don t live very long and they die shortly after sex. However one thing they have in common is that they seem to appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly at the end of the summer.

Likewise the myth that lovebugs were created by an experiment gone horribly wrong at the university of. Adult love bugs are vegetarians. The myth that love bugs eat mosquitos is totally unfounded. Love bugs plecia nearctica are small to medium sized flies that are native to south america and southern portions of the united states their thorax is reddish brown while the rest of their bodies are black and appear to be almost velvety and soft to the touch.

Love bugs are not the result of a genetic cloning experiment gone wrong nor were they unwittingly loosed from a research facility charged with studying exotic insects. The species was first described in 1940 by d.