Lovebug Season and Vehicles
If you live in Florida, you know how annoying lovebug season can be. They make your car look dirty and smell terrible! Within this article are some helpful tips for preventing them from ruining your freshly washed vehicle.
What Are Lovebugs and What Is Lovebug Season?
The lovebug, a type of fly that swarms Florida in large numbers during the spring and summer months, is not very well liked. Also known as the “honeymoon bug” or “double-headed bug,”.
Lovebugs, popularly known by their scientific name as the Plecia nearctica, are small flies with black bodies and red heads. Lovebugs spend only a short time as adults, while they live much longer in larval form. While they’re pests to drivers who have these flies on their windshields or grills, these insects don’t cause any harm either to people or pets.
Issues from Lovebugs?
Lovebugs, attracted to the gas fumes emitted by vehicles and swarming around them, can not only affect your visibility while you’re driving—they can damage your car’s paint job and engine. While driving, lovebugs may enter through your radiator or grates on their own accord. Once inside they will clog up parts like the carburetor resulting in poor performance
They can also get caught in your car’s radiator, clogging it up like gum stuck in hair under a drain—which is frankly one of our biggest fears when we drive!
Cleaning These Insects Up
You can avoid having lovebugs splat on your windshield by washing them off as soon as possible after you hit a swarm. Don’t use wiper fluid to spray the little bugs away, because that will just smear their guts all over your glass—and leave you with another mess to clean up later! Not only will the wiper fluid leave streaks on your windshield, but it will also cause the lovebugs to stick more firmly to your car. Instead, use a high-quality glass cleaner with a microfiber towel or chamois cloth.
Wiping them with a towel or rag is much better than using wiper fluid, which can leave streaks on your windshield and even damage paint if you rub too hard. If you do have lovebugs stuck to your car’s paint, don’t rub them off with anything abrasive.
Lovebug Prevention
A clean car is a happy car, as the saying goes! But how do you keep your vehicle’s finish looking good and prevent lovebugs from sticking to it? Some recommended tips are regular waxing or using baby oil during rainy season. Many stores sell deflector shields and protective screens that can be mounted in front of your vehicle.
Some community users have also testified about spraying the front of their cars with WD-40 or Pam cooking spray before driving. However, you need to be careful when using Pam because it will dry once on your car and can be very difficult to get off.
If you’d like further great tips like this, look no further than Consolidated Pest Control. We have the professional service to fix your pest issues.
