Cleaning windshield from lovebugs: Dick Rush, a courier works at removing dead lovebugs that have stuck to his windshield. He said that lovebugs are heavy on open roads. The dark grill to his panel has thousands of lovebugs stuck to it. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Dick Rush says it has been about the worst season he has ever seen when it comes to the so-called Lovebugs.

“They’re splattering all over my vehicle and I have to stop from time to time just to wash off the windshield of my van, said Rush, a courier for the past 10 years.

He said on Fridays he may travel 300 miles and that for the past two weeks, that has been the worst day.

“Of course the more driving I do, the more lovebugs hit my van,” he said.

“You find them out in the open areas and not so many in the populated communities,” Rush said, as he leaned over the wipe off dead lovebugs from his windshield.

“When I was driving down Daniels Parkway near where they are building the new stadium, the come at you like snow does up north.

“You can hear them hitting the windshield like sleet,” he laughed.

“And they have a second season sometime in August,” he said. Rush said he remember four or five years ago when lovebug season was bad around Lee County. He said this season is just as bad as it was then.

“I don’t remember lovebugs being a problem last year or the year before. Don’t think I even saw any,” he said.

Lovebugs are harmless, those who study insects say, but they can be lethal to your car if you don’t wash them off.

Motorists are urged to remove them frequently with water and a brush or sponge.

Some have suggested that by rubbing baby oil on the surface of your vehicle, you can escape them sticking to the vehicle’s front grills and windows.

According to information on an Internet site, The lovebug, Plecia nearctica, is a member of the family of march flies. It is also known as the honeymoon fly, kissingbug or double-headedbug. The adult is a small, flying insect common to parts of Central America and the southeastern United States, especially along the Gulf Coast. During and after mating, adult pairs remain coupled, even in flight, for up to several days.

The lovebug was first described in 1940 by D. E. Hardy from Galveston, Texas. At that time, he reported the incidence of lovebugs to be widespread, but most common in Texas and Louisiana. However, by the end of the 20th century the species had spread heavily to all areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Georgia, and South Carolina.

L. A. Hetrick, writing in 1970, found it very widespread in central and northern Florida and described its flights as reaching altitudes of 980 to 1,480 feet and extending several kilometers over the Gulf. In 2006, it was reported as far north as Wilmington, North Carolina.

This species’ reputation as a public nuisance is due not to any bite or sting (it is incapable of either), but to its slightly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne lovebugs can exist in enormous numbers near highways, they die en masse on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills when the vehicles travel at high speeds.

If left for more than an hour or two, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove. Their body chemistry has a nearly neutral 6.5 pH but may become acidic at 4.25 pH if left on the car for a day.

In the past, the acidity of the dead adult body, especially the female’s egg masses, often resulted in pits and etches in automotive paint and chrome if not quickly removed. However, advances in automotive paints and protective coatings have reduced this threat significantly. Now the greatest concern is excessive clogging of vehicle radiator air passages with the bodies of the adults, with the reduction of the cooling effect on engines, and the obstruction of windshields when the remains of the adults and egg masses are smeared on the glass.

Lovebug adults are attracted to light-colored surfaces, especially if they are freshly painted, but the adults can congregate almost anywhere by reacting to the effects of sunlight on automobile fumes, asphalt, and other products affected by environmental factors still not completely understood.

In Lehigh Acres, lovebug activity is spotty. They have been detected in some areas just out of town and in some neighborhoods but many say they have seen non in their neighborhoods.

“You never know where they will turn up,” Dick Rush said. “They are a menace when you’re drive down a road and hit a swam of them … splash, splash, splash against the windshield … like hard rain or sleet … that’s what it sounds like,” Rush said. He works for Breezenewspapers.