• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

It's Love Bug Season in Florida!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Guest
For those of you who don't know we have this little insect in Florida that shows up in May and September. These black little winged insects swarm in mated pairs. The problem is that they get thick as rain at times. They can sure make a mess of the front of any vehicle in short order.
These were imported to fight against the mosquito but that didn't work out and now we're stuck with zillions of these bugs twice a year.
Furthermore, if you don't remove them from your paint fairly quickly the splat they make will eat at the paint, leaving a nasty reminder of their being there.
This morning, while getting ready to ride, I was getting swarmed by the little devils, don't know how many I killed riding, but as we go through the month they'll probably only get worse.
Here's some examples what they can do.
185978d1305562972-love-bugs-imgp1285.jpg




15350d1180408759-love-bugs-img0060.jpg
 
I just washed mine, or I could have posted a similar picture. I try to restrict my lovebug-season riding to early morning and late evening hours.
 
Yeeeeeeeaww I remember those! They are unbelievable! They're about the size of large ants if I remember correctly, and they can get so thick you can't even walk down the street without getting them in your eyes. Speaking of ants, Fire Ants were another feature I don't miss about Florida, along with Palmetto bugs - big brown cockroaches that smell AWFUL when you squish them, and EVERY house has them.
 
When the love bugs get thick, I usually use a rag to smear a light film of vaseline on the front of the fairing and windshield, lights, fork tubes, etc. The bugs still make a mess, but they don't stick. Just rinse them off with a hose.
 
Allie said:
Yeeeeeeeaww I remember those! They are unbelievable! They're about the size of large ants if I remember correctly, and they can get so thick you can't even walk down the street without getting them in your eyes. Speaking of ants, Fire Ants were another feature I don't miss about Florida, along with Palmetto bugs - big brown cockroaches that smell AWFUL when you squish them, and EVERY house has them.
Click to expand...

The big ones that smell like Pine Sol are commonly called pine bugs because they're normally in and around pine trees. One in the house is usually just an accident. The gators and the big pine bugs are easy to tell apart. The bugs don't have big teeth. LOL
 
Those little bugs are pretty much harmless, I don't think they bite and before they end up on your windshield, faceshield, they look like this.
images


But after awhile of driving through them, they end up looking like this.

images


In May they weren't bad at all, but it was a dry spring, with all the rain we had, we may have a banner year for these things. Bad thing about them is they stain the paint if not removed quickly.
 
They have them in Louisiana too, in September at least. We doing an endurance race at NPR back in 2001 and just got inundated with them. Made doing the normal 1 hour shifts almost impossible, after 30 minutes you could barely see out of your faceshield. Helmet, faceshield and front of the bike covered in bug goo. Not a good memory...:(
 
RichDesmond said:
They have them in Louisiana too, in September at least. We doing an endurance race at NPR back in 2001 and just got inundated with them. Made doing the normal 1 hour shifts almost impossible, after 30 minutes you could barely see out of your faceshield. Helmet, faceshield and front of the bike covered in bug goo. Not a good memory...:(
Click to expand...

They have a funny taste to them also, but I really hate it when they get in my ears and nose.
 
earlfor said:
When the love bugs get thick, I usually use a rag to smear a light film of vaseline on the front of the fairing and windshield, lights, fork tubes, etc. The bugs still make a mess, but they don't stick. Just rinse them off with a hose.
Click to expand...

Does the vaseline make their feet slippy?
 
Grew up in Florida. Remember one year they were so thick you had a hard time not breathing them in when you were outside. Nasty stuff on auto paint.
 
We see them up here also. I'm about 180 miles from the gulf. There's something about asphault that attracts them to highways. Fairly light crop for us this time. Hurricane Issac blew them in for a few days. There's a dead one inside the speedometer of my truck, leftover from two years ago.

Buddy
 
Gawd i remember those thing.
And where i lived down there,deffinately gator fishing and boar hunting.If we weren't bass fishing.
As a commercial fisherman back then the skeeters so thick i got used to those on me n biting,became immune to them after a bit.
And red tide,NAAAASTY.
There was so much i enjoyed in Fla tho.Fresh fish all the time,The storms,hurricane parties on the beach.The meteor showers at night,Fresh fruit so goood it's hard to eat it in NY.
Horseshoe crab colonies getting in our nets lol.
Stone crab claws better than lobster by far.
Schools of Mullet so thick the jumped in the boats.And ringling museum at night was beautiful.
And most of all,the only time in my life spent with my father on a regular basis,god rest his soul.Cancer made sure of that.
I still dream of being there again with him regularly.GOOD TIMES
 
5150/gs said:
Gawd i remember those thing.
And where i lived down there,deffinately gator fishing and boar hunting.If we weren't bass fishing.
As a commercial fisherman back then the skeeters so thick i got used to those on me n biting,became immune to them after a bit.
And red tide,NAAAASTY.
There was so much i enjoyed in Fla tho.Fresh fish all the time,The storms,hurricane parties on the beach.The meteor showers at night,Fresh fruit so goood it's hard to eat it in NY.
Horseshoe crab colonies getting in our nets lol.
Stone crab claws better than lobster by far.
Schools of Mullet so thick the jumped in the boats.And ringling museum at night was beautiful.
And most of all,the only time in my life spent with my father on a regular basis,god rest his soul.Cancer made sure of that.
I still dream of being there again with him regularly.GOOD TIMES
Click to expand...

We ate mullet constantly when we lived on the river in Ft Myers. Also loved the Ringling museum. Ever been to the Edison museum? The Shell Factory?
 
sedelen said:
They have a funny taste to them also, but I really hate it when they get in my ears and nose.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they're very bitter and rather crunchy. hehehe Wellll, crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. heheh
 
Never went into the museums,just watched them from the waters at night,made 15k in front of Ringling in 24 hrs once.Called stop netting.
I still dream about fishing with my dad,R.I.P.
We docked our boats in a fishing town called Cortez.
 
Use a dryer sheet to get them off. Bounce or the store brand will work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top