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What's to do about Love Bugs?
Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.
As the tiny files we know as love bugs begin their seasonal mating flights, they also create a nuisance as they fly on Florida roadways and splatter on the fronts of vehicles. But, says entomologist John Jackman, it's important to keep the pests in perspective (John Jackman, Professor and Extension Entomologist, Texas A & M University)...
"It's purely a nuisance of the adults smashing into your vehicles and flying into your homes occasionally and just being kind of a nuisance there in the environment."
And that status as a mere nuisance has helped hold down any real efforts at controlling Love Bugs says urban entomologist Phil Koehler (Phil Koehler, Ph.D., Staff Endowed Professor, Urban Entomology, Department of Entomology, University of Florida)...
"No real control methods... whatever you would do to control them would also kill beneficial insects like bees and butterflies. So we're much better off leaving them alone. They'll be out for a few weeks and then they disappear for most of the year."
In fact, natural controls have helped keep the past couple Love Bug seasons quieter (Koehler)...
"There are some birds that will feed on the larvae. Also the Love Bugs don't do well through droughts and floods so the past couple of years have been really hard on the Love Bug populations."
Love Bugs are the tiny flies that hatch twice a year in Florida, are usually seen while mating and often end up becoming highway casualties on car grills and windshields. But why Florida and the Gulf Coast states? John Jackman is an entomologist at Texas A & M University (John Jackman, Professor and Extension Entomologist, Texas A & M University)...
"The immature form is a maggot that feeds down in moist areas that have a lot of organic matter. So they're found along roadsides and swampy areas, ditches and even in some cases lawns that have a lot of thatch buildup. Places like that that have a lot of organic buildup and moisture."
And with that attraction to moisture and decay, Love Bug larvae serve at important function (Jackman)...
"They're a beneficial insect because the immatures help break down organic matter. So they're part of our recycling community out there. So in general, if you can ignore them you're better off."
University of Florida Entomologist Phil Koehler says the tiny flies are also attracted to the very highways that might bring their downfall (Phil Koehler, Ph.D., Staff Endowed Professor, Urban Entomology, Department of Entomology, University of Florida)...
"Usually you see them very dense on the roads between ten a.m. and four p.m. and those hot engines and the exhaust fumes are what attract them there."
For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |