Love & Georgia don’t go together!

[kksfish]

Avoid Georgia at all costs and at all times of the day and night!

We have been taken over by the infamous LoveBug....and most of us really don’t love them very much, except maybe car wash owners!
My neighbors and I as well as friends from all the state are spending untold amounts of hours and money trying to keep them from ruining the paint on our cars,trucks,and RV....just driving a few miles will result in thousands of the creatures splattered on your vehicle which in turn will require an hour labor to get them off before they dry completely in our upper 90’s temperatures and if they do dry it will require trips to car wash to have them scrub the bugs of with chemicals and brushes further damaging the finish.
The only answer I have come up with is to drive the wife’s car and let her take care of it....

And then the fight started......

[SummitPond]

When do you expect the buggers to die off so it's safe to visit/travel again?

[Huntme]

Avoid Georgia at all costs and at all times of the day and night!

We have been taken over by the infamous LoveBug....and most of us really don’t love them very much, except maybe car wash owners!
My neighbors and I as well as friends from all the state are spending untold amounts of hours and money trying to keep them from ruining the paint on our cars,trucks,and RV....just driving a few miles will result in thousands of the creatures splattered on your vehicle which in turn will require an hour labor to get them off before they dry completely in our upper 90’s temperatures and if they do dry it will require trips to car wash to have them scrub the bugs of with chemicals and brushes further damaging the finish.
The only answer I have come up with is to drive the wife’s car and let her take care of it....

And then the fight started......




if you fight you get to make up,at least you hope.

[JRTJH]

if you fight you get to make up,at least you hope.

Yeah, making up is great after fighting, but with "love bugs" ????? http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/bugs/i-hate-flies-smiley-emoticon.gif (http://www.sherv.net/)

[kksfish]

We’re not sure the season for them will ever end! Do you guys really think there will be any making up today after I drove her SUV (white 4Runner) to the sons house to help install a new axle in his truck a trip of about 15 miles each way? When I got home there must have been 50 or more impact areas on the windshield alone and just as many on the front bumper and chrome......I tried to explain it was easier to clean her windshield than on my 3500 truck which I can’t reach the center of.


And then the fight started......

[kksfish]

There is a nasty rumor circulating around here .........

The car wash owners have been breeding super bugs and have been feeding and genetically altering them for the increased profit!

You should see the lines at those car washes.....

[sourdough]

Just get some RainX liquid, rub it on the windshield and front of the vehicle, get out on the road and splatter the snot out of the bugs, bring it home and tell DW to just "spray wash" them off.....works for the shower......:lol::lol:

[kksfish]

Danny, I hadn’t thought about the rain-x but I will give it a try when DW lets me borrow her SUV to go to Walmart.....and get bugs on it again!

You might ask why I don’t just drive my truck- because it doesn’t have any bugs on it and I want to keep it that way��

[flybouy]

:hide:Reminds me of the May Flies along the Susquehanna River north of Harrisburg. When they swarm I guarantee your windshield washer reservoir will empty before you get them off the windshield.

[Huntme]

Danny, I hadn’t thought about the rain-x but I will give it a try when DW lets me borrow her SUV to go to Walmart.....and get bugs on it again!

You might ask why I don’t just drive my truck- because it doesn’t have any bugs on it and I want to keep it that way��

my wife would drive my truck,get it dirty and then nagg at me for days or months,until I clean both vehicles.
I Love her though,so I would do as I was told,eventually.

[kksfish]

Marshall- Don’t get me started on the May Flies we get those as well! I’ll take the Love Bugs over the May Flies any day ! At least the love bugs don’t bite!

Huntme, I guess I’m lucky in the fact the DW won’t drive my truck other than maybe around a campground.....or just to park at a boat ramp.

I got the Rain-X yesterday and will be applying this evening, got my fingers crossed that it works! I ended up driving DW to Bluffton, SC last evening to get an oil change in her SUV prior to leaving for a quick trip to VA. In the morning and I will clean it and apply before we leave!

[Msmith2054]

Ha!!! Got you fooled! They are just as bad here in Bluffton, as you probably found out when you came for the oil change!
BTW, Mayflies in SC don’t bite, but they are as big of a nuisance as Lovebugs.

[gearhead]

Love bugs are starting to show in SE Texas.
Y'all please post back on how RainX works on chrome and painted surfaces.

[LV_Tom]

I live in Las Vegas. It gets really hot in the summer. And warm for the rest of the year except for maybe Feb when it can get cold. BUT we don't have any Mosquitos, mayflies, "NoSeeUms" or gnats and other critters to smash on the windshield.It's just too damn hot....one other benefit of it being hot....You don't ever have to shovel the heat. Did I mention it was hot?

[donajohn]

I live in Florida and have seen my share of Love bugsHere's a tip for cleaning them from RV and vehicle---patience and perseverance. I use the scouring side of my squeegee which is on an extended pole. Wet the surface, scrub lightly, rinse. Repeat 5-6 times. They will come off. It's a myth that their guts eat your paint. Scrubbing them with a Brillo pad...that's what'll eat your paint. Just be patient.

P.S. Not everyone hates Mayflies. They are a fly fisher's best friend.

[CaptnJohn]

Picked up more love in S.C. than GA 2 days ago.

[Cattail]

Although scientific evidence of a true metamorphosis is lacking, we Floridians have observed with great suspicion the fact that the fall love bug hatch correlates strongly with the arrival of snowbirds and that the spring love bug hatch correlates strongly with their departure. The absence of both may be why hardened Floridians choose to suffer through the summer heat. (Just kidding -- we love our seasonal residents!)
Cattail

[kksfish]

Update on RAIN-X

I applied it to the wife’s windshield and the front bumper and chrome......

Couldn’t tell much difference in how difficult it was to get the buggers off! So back to just using elbow grease....

[jsmith948]

Interesting thread. Memo to self: Avoid scheduling trips along the southern corridor of the 48 states during the Love-Bug season.

In and around Klamath Falls, Oregon, there is a species of flying bugs that are a bright green and they fly in swarms so dense that you have to stop to clean your windshield in order to see. They are, in fact, so numerous that, when walking across a parking lot at night, the ground under the light pole will look like it is a green carpet. Of course, they used to completely coat the nose of the semi truck I was driving. We used to mix up a pretty thick solution of baking soda and water and paint it onto the smashed bugs. I guess the corpses are acidic because the baking soda solution would fizz like on battery acid and made the task of removing the mess from the paint a whole lot easier.
Don't know if it would work on these Love Bugs but it might be worth a try?

[JRTJH]

Speaking of "solutions to remove love bugs".... Back when bumpers were chrome and paint was enamel, we used to coat the front bumper and grill with Vaseline and apply a heavy coat of "Simonize wax" to the paint on the front of the car without "polishing it off". Then, when possible, wash the smashed bugs off before they dry. If they do happen to dry on the front of the car, they wouldn't stick to the chrome or paint, rather to the Vaseline and wax coating.

With today's cars, non oil base paints and lack of "real chrome"... I don't know if that method would work or not. Fortunately, we only get pelted with swarms of little bugs that have less "goo" in them.

[jimborokz]

Although scientific evidence of a true metamorphosis is lacking, we Floridians have observed with great suspicion the fact that the fall love bug hatch correlates strongly with the arrival of snowbirds and that the spring love bug hatch correlates strongly with their departure. The absence of both may be why hardened Floridians choose to suffer through the summer heat. (Just kidding -- we love our seasonal residents!)
Cattail

Ouch, this snowbird is heading to SC in two weeks, then on to GA...:cool:

Hope these bugs have run their course by then. :ermm: