How to Identify & Get Rid of Love Bugs | Orkin (2024)

FAQs

How to Identify & Get Rid of Love Bugs | Orkin? ›

Make a DIY love bug repellent by mixing 3 tablespoons of mouthwash and 3 tablespoons of citrus dish soap into 1 cup of water. Use a spray bottle to apply on plants, walls, and any other affected areas. Use fans to deter flying love bugs

Create a lovebug spray that contains 1 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of citrus dish soap and 3 tablespoons of mouthwash. Spray on plants, walls, and any affected areas. Use a drier sheet with soap and water and rub on parts of the car where there is a love bug graveyard.

Also, lovebugs are visually attracted to light colored objects, especially white. The flies are most active between about 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. They are not active at night and are not attracted to electric lights.

Lovebug mating season starts in May and lasts for four weeks, then occurs again in September. TAMPA, Fla. — They're on your car, on your house and landing on your windshield every time you stop — lovebug season is here.

Female lovebugs lay 100 to 350 eggs that are deposited underneath debris and decaying vegetation. After about 20 days, the larvae hatch and feed on the decaying plant vegetation. The larvae act as a decomposer in the natural habitat by converting the plant material into nutrients that can be used by the growing plants.

Look for an insect spray that contains citrus, clove, or rosemary oil, since love bugs really dislike those scents. Unfortunately, love bugs aren't deterred by insect repellents that contain DEET or citronella.

As they say, April showers bring May flowers...but it also brings Love bug season, as it is commonly known here in the south, as the rain creates the perfect moist environment for larvae to grow and hatch. Feeding on pollen and nectar, love bugs (Plecia nearctica) are actually flies.

Their mating process could take up to 12 hours, followed by the female dying less than four days after laying between 100 and 350 eggs. According to Leppla, mating peaks last roughly four weeks in May and September. Experts believe the flies are most active between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. in temperatures above 84 degrees.

Lovebug swarms typically only happen during daylight hours and temperatures above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. At night, they rest on plants.

Myth: They have no natural predators.

There is nothing to stop lovebugs from being eaten by other insects, lizards, or birds.

What months are love bugs season? ›

Many times these flies are seen in swarms, most commonly during their two specific mating seasons–once in the spring (April to May), and then again in the late summer (August to September). Lovebugs are most commonly found swarming cars because they are attracted to the gases emitted from vehicles.

Interesting fact about love bugs: They do not fly at night. Love bugs are generally only active during the times of 10:00 in the morning until about 6:00 in the evening. You will normally only see them when temperatures are above 84°F which would explain why they are attracted to highways.

Lovebugs, notorious for their midair mating, are typically rampant twice a year: Once in late April and May and again in late August and September.

While lovebugs are not a favored food of most insectivores due to their acidic taste, lovebug larvae—and some adults—are food for birds such as quail and robins. Arthropod predators include spiders, some predatory insects such as earwigs, at least two species of beetle larvae, and centipedes.

The University of Florida says nothing gets rid of lovebugs for good, but there is one trick that can attract them away from your front door. Fill a white bucket or bowl with baby oil and water. Then watch as the lovebugs gather.

“Their development is subject to temperature, humidity. Lovebugs are particularly vulnerable to drying out or to drowning, so they have to find just the right place and maybe this year and in past years, that hasn't been happening.” Leppla is also not ruling out pathogens or predation.

While lovebugs are not a favored food of most insectivores due to their acidic taste, lovebug larvae—and some adults—are food for birds such as quail and robins. Arthropod predators include spiders, some predatory insects such as earwigs, at least two species of beetle larvae, and centipedes.

Ladybugs don't like the smell of camphor menthol, citrus or clove scents. Use a couple drops of one of these essential oils mixed with water in a spray bottle and spray in areas where the ladybugs are congregating. Often, they will leave the premises.

Love bugs come from Central and South America and are attracted to heat, and gases emitted from cars and lawnmowers.