Tink glad to see you made it to my part of the world ok. Yeah those Love bugs are everywhere and do they make a mess when your driving. I had to stop 3 times on a road trip JUST TO CLEAN THEM OFF my windshield! they do make a mess! I hope you enjoy your trip take time to relax and have fun, you earned it!! Take care,
Andy
For those of you who want to know what Tinkster is talking about:
The love bug (also known as march fly, honeymoon fly, telephone bug, kissybug and double-headed bug) (scientific name Plecia nearctica) is a small flying insect common to the southern United States, especially along the Gulf Coast. It is nuisance to motorists driving at a sufficient speed to spatter the insects on their windshields. They are acidic and can affect the paint on the vehicles they collide with if not washed off. They seem to be attracted to lighter colored objects (white fence posts are usually blackened with them during the peak season), but can accumulate anywhere.[citation needed]
It was first described in 1940 by D. E. Hardy of Galveston, Texas. At that time, he reported the incidence of love bugs to be widespread, but most common in Texas and Louisiana. By the end of the 20th century, however, it had spread heavily to all areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Georgia, South Carolina, and other parts of Central America. L. A. Hetrick, writing in 1970, found it very widespread in Florida and described its flights as reaching altitudes of 300 m to 450 m and extending several kilometers over the Gulf.
Love bug larvae grow up in grassy areas and feed on dead vegetation. The adult love bug does not eat, but subsists on the food taken in during its larval stage. Upon reaching maturity the love bug spends the entirety of its life copulating with its mate, hence its numerous romantic nicknames. The male and female attach themselves at the rear of the abdomen and remain that way at all times, even in flight. In fact, after mating, the male dies and is dragged around by the female until she lays her eggs. Females lay up to 350 eggs in debris, and about 20 days later the eggs hatch into larvae. The larvae may live for months before passing into adulthood.
Commercial use of cut sod for "instant" green lawns transports great numbers of the larvae of this insect, once found only in agricultural areas, to all of the newly built developments sprouting up in the towns of the regions where its numbers are increasing so rapidly as a new phenomenon. They might be 1 cm for males, and 2 cm for females.
Love bug swarms can number in the hundreds of thousands and blanket an entire small town in a dense cloud of insects. The thick swarming of these slow flying, almost drifting, insects almost is reminiscent of snow fall. The swarms occur twice each year, first in late spring, then again in late summer. The spring swarm occurs during late April and May. The summer swarm occurs during late August and September. Swarms extend over periods of 4 to 5 weeks.[1] Mating takes place almost immediately after emergence of the females. Adult females live only 2-3 days.
Its character as a public nuisance is due not to its bite or sting (as it is not capable of either), but to its apparently highly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne love bugs 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, and their acidity pits and etches automotive paint and chrome [1]. Driving in more developed areas where breeding is less likely to occur, or driving at lower speeds for the breeding season are both alternatives to having to scrape them off daily.
