Yet Another Swarm

  Ok, folks.  Any of you living down here in the Deep South, you are receiving fair warning.  It is THAT time of year again.  It is high time you make preparations for the coming "storm".  Yep, August/September is THE season and I noticed the very first intrusion just this morning.  Lovebugs!  Yep.  The lovebugs (also known as Honeymoon Bugs) are coming.  You had best be ready so get out your hairnets, bug sprays, car washing equipment and suit of armor (if you so desire) even though that is overdoing it just a tad.  Just be prepared for the bazillion or so bugs to soon be swarming....everywhere!  Much to the disdain of every Southerner, the bugs are coming whether we want them or not.

  Lovebugs are a type of marsh fly that swarm in early spring and then again in fall.  Contrary to what folks believe, these critters are not coming from other places just to make life miserable.  They are born here.  It is just a fact of life.  The lovebugs (so called because usually the only time they are seen is when they are mating), transform from larvae to insects then fly about in search of a mate.  Once a suitable mate is found, they stay conjoined for about 5 days then they land and the female lays her eggs in leaf litter and mulch.  The male dies almost immediately after mating while the female dies a few days later (after all, she is busy laying eggs).   The eggs hatch and the larvae stay in the leaf litter/mulch nursery and grow.  That is all fine and dandy except when you consider the millions upon millions of lovebugs that keep crawling out of that leaf litter to mate.  It takes a good month or so before the critters are through swarming.  (Don't we have fun??)

  There are "conspiracy" theories that these are an experiment gone wrong.  Folks are eager to blame anyone or anything when they are being covered in critters.  Most likely the critters are just an invasive bunch that came here in a shipment of whatever from South or Central America.   Now, they are here to stay as they have found the place to their liking.  Good news...they do not bite nor sting!  Bad news...their decaying bodies that become plastered to your car can eat through the paint job.  That said...car washes are going to be really busy for the next four or five weeks.