Bugs in south Fla.

[johniam]

Last week my family and I vacationed in Florida. We had a good trip overall, but one day we drove from Tampa to Fort Myers down I75. As we got closer to Fort Myers we noticed there seemed to be an awful lot of bugs getting squished on the wind shield.

It never got so bad that we couldn't see, but we stopped at a gas station to clean them off the car. I figured a once over with the squeegee/sponge device most gas stations have would do it. So I pulled up to a pump and got out of the van. These bugs were all over the place. They were black with red markings on them. With a color scheme like that they gotta be deadly, right?

Fortunately they were relatively docile. They didn't bite, sting, or suck your blood, but they were so THICK! I ended up buying a box of Brillo pads, a tooth brush, and one of those hair brushes with plastic teeth. This place had a hose so between all that we got it managed. I used the tooth brush and the hair brush to get them off the radiator grille and the Brillo for the wind shield, chrome, and head lights; took about a half hour. I even poured anti freeze on the wind shield figuring bugs don't like alchohol.

We drove 45 - 50 MPH the rest of the way to Fort Myers on the suggestion of another customer and doing so seemed to make a huge difference. But OMG I felt like I was in the middle of a horror movie when I first got out of the car. Later that night I repeated the application of the Brillo pad and the rest of the trip was bug free.

The next day we drove over to Fort Lauderdale where we saw my sister. She called them "love bugs". Some of you Fla. people are probably snickering, but man, next Fla. vacation I'm bringing the 6" razor scraper I use for window cleaning.

[SafariVista]

Ah yes, the BUGS!

After exiting TWI, we wanted to relocate to a place of OUR choosing. Hubby thought a nice, warm place would be ideal. For a few months, we read up on places that 'Find Your Spot' recommended from the answers we'd given in their questionnaire.

A few places in Florida seemed ideal for us. We took a trip there, to check it out. The bugs were horrible, gators on the loose, humidity to melt your socks off... the Ocean smelled like dead fish, and many places were mostly Spanish speaking.

Our children didn't enjoy themselves for any long period of time... the BUGS were the worst... oh, and those funky geckos all over the place... the screams we heard on that trip

Edited June 6, 2006 by SafariVista

[johniam]

The 2nd picture from the top. That's them.

[TheEvan]

And if you don't wash them off soon enough they will remove your paint.

[Belle]

Hit the right cloud of them and your car will look black.

Definitely don't let them sit around on the car like Evan said. Some people spray Pam or some other nonstick cooking spray to the front of their cars - I've been too chicken to try it - I think it migh mess up the paint as bad as the love bugs.

[SafariVista]

Oh YUCK!

Just look at those things... most of them seemed to be hooked together... just doin' it... makin’ MORE & MORE... multiplying ALL OVER THE PLACE!

HIT THE RIGHT CLOUD OF EM?!?!?!?!

Disgusting!

Here's an article about them: LOVE BUGS

[coolchef1248 @adelphia.net]

you can keep florida and all of the yucky critters in it

well have to mow the lawn now

but first i have to put on my netting so the black flies don't devoure me and repellent to keep the mosqueto don't eat me to death

oh i musen't forget the flea collers around my ankles so the ticks don't get me!! :D

[Raf]

Those critters can do ya some real damage. You don't get them much in Fort Lauderdale or Miami, but if you're driving around the state, they are as pervasive as the humidity.

[moony3424]

They are only here around May (and now sometimes in Sept). They are the genetic fabrication of USF, made originally to get rid of mosquitos (they didn't). An experiment gone bad. Would make a good movie for Sci-fi channel... The Attack of the Love Bug

[SafariVista]

They are only here around May (and now sometimes in Sept). They are the genetic fabrication of USF, made originally to get rid of mosquitos (they didn't). An experiment gone bad. Would make a good movie for Sci-fi channel... The Attack of the Love Bug

More like, Attack of the f***ing Bugs

Well... that's what they are....

[YIdon'tgotochurch]

Occassionally, we see them here, in Texas around the Corpus Christi area. They are harmless and the funny thing is that they mate while flying. So, it's not unusual to see 2 of them flying joined at the "hip".

They swarm like bees, but I don't think I've ever seen them as thick as the picture of the windshield.

Kind of reminds me of a girlfriend in high school. She was a pest. I didn't marry her.

[topoftheworld]

Gee, YI-thank you for sharing.

:unsure:

[SafariVista]

Gee, YI-thank you for sharing.

:unsure:

That's why their called LOVE BUGS... they're always doin' it

Although, I wouldn't call it makin' love... more like the red dotted HORN-NAY bug

or how about... the Proliferating Pests

[Sunnyfla]

We took a trip to Sanabel Island on Memorial Day weekend and crossing over I75 we were hit with those too. The front of the van was covered with them.

[johniam]

The day it happened to us was Tuesday after Memorial weekend. It rained hard for maybe an hour that night in Fort Myers Beach and the next day we had no bug problem driving on I75 to Fort Lauderdale. They must really pick their spots.