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Love Bugs!!!!!

Started by dean herring, September 09, 2017, 08:39:10 PM

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dean herring

Was cutting some skids yesterday and today. Love bugs were so bad I finally give up and went inside. I have never been done in by bugs but I was today.
I have never seen the this bad here before.
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

pineywoods

Same here......Not too bad in the AM, but by mid-afternoon, I have to quit and go in the house. I notice they seem to be attracted to fresh cut pine lumber. They get in the coolant fluid on the band sharpener and clog up the pump..
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

Kbeitz

Unless you lived down south most people would not know what a love bug is...
Try driving through a swarm of them on a motorcycle.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

caveman

They evidently like the smell of fresh gel coat too.  In 1996 my uncle and I re-did a 222 Aqua Sport Osprey center console.  When I sprayed the hull with white gel coat, about 8 million love bugs began landing on the boat.  We wet sanded love bug feet out for at least a week.  At least they don't sting or bite.
Caveman

Peter Drouin

A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

red

#53 Herbie the Love Bug VW
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

47sawdust

Caveman,Your story reminds me of this one.Years ago some young friends purchased an old house and refinished the hardwood floors.They put down a coat of finish and left some windows open to air it out.The next morning they arrived to find the floor fully covered with cluster flies sealed to the floor.Not exactly the texture they  were looking for.
Cluster flies might be regional as are love bugs which I've never heard of.
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

caveman

Love bugs are an introduced species that have a propensity to splatter at speeds around 30 mph on windows and auto grills.  They smell bad when smashed or heated in a radiator and can promote business at body shops.

I have seen them covering surfaces in layers up to an inch thick.  My oldest daughter was planning to do a science fair experiment when she was in middle school to determine at which speed and windshield angle the love bugs would splatter compared to being swept above the vehicle by the wind.

Love bugs thankfully only hang around in large numbers for a few weeks.  By the time my daughter got around to the actual experiment, they were gone until the spring.  They are usually really bad here in May and we have others in September and early October.
Caveman

ellmoe

Like most invasive species love bugs had a huge population explosion early in there arrival in Florida. In 1973 I was working an after high school job at a Texaco service station  off of !-95 in Jacksonville. Back in those days all stations were full service, gas pumped, tires and oil checked, and windshields washed. The love bugs were so bad that motor homes would pull in with the windshields completely covered with smashed bugs. Visibility was usually approaching zero. The customers would buy $2.00 worth of gas and expect their windshields to be washed, a minimum 5 minute job. Being left alone at the station and having many such customers I made an executive decision and limited cleaning to a 18"dia. circle and sent them on their way.
Learned to keep my mouth shut when riding a bike back then, too. Nasty!
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

FloridaMike

They are a pain "just like hurricanes" ::)!  Nothing cleans love bug guts off a car better then a dryer softener sheet and water.   
Mike

Peter Drouin

Come to think of it. I've had my love bug for over 35 years  :D :D :D ;)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Planman1954

I lived in Baton Rouge, in SOUTH Louisiana about 40 years ago. They were really bad down there. I don't remember a time (I live in NORTH Louisiana now) that I've ever noticed them here this bad. They showed up with Hurricane Harvey, which I believe blew them up here from the South. I just hope the cold weather will come soon and kill them off, and they don't return. I have no idea though!
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 / Solar Dry Kiln /1943 Ford 9n tractor

Planman1954

Norwood Lumbermate 2000 / Solar Dry Kiln /1943 Ford 9n tractor

Raider Bill

I spray lemon.pledge on them drink a beer and let it foam up then hose them. They about fall off. Another thing depending on availability is hydrogen peroxide same way. They will ruin your paint if left on.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

samandothers

My first encounter was after Katrina I worked in Louisiana for a couple of weeks.  On the drive down I ranks through swarms and wondered what the heck they were.  Upon arrival others who were already in place explained what they were.  Garage guys washed trucks each evening or every other if possible.

dean herring

Bugs 2
Me    0
I can take a lot of things, sawdust,sweat ,grit, grease. But I cannot take bugs crawling on me.
I guess I'm a yuppie.
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

Briankinley2004

Hurricane blew them North. We are working in Orange Tx and don't hit them until we get to Alexandria. They are starting to drift south again as I found some in truck todayn

dean herring

They seem have either moved on or waiting for the next ones.
Mill shed covered with dead ones.
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

Texas Ranger

 

 

White 5 gallon bucket nearly full, 1/4 cup dish washing soap, ends up a bucket of dead love bugs.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Peter Drouin

A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Briankinley2004

They started getting pesky here in Orange today. I think they have drifted back south.

dean herring

They're still here but not as bad.
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

FloridaMike

We just started to see them here in west central Florida.  Our crop the last few years hasn't been that bad, hope the trend continues!
Mike

DanG

As Raider Bill said, they will ruin the paint on your car if you don't remove their little corpses promptly. A wet towel laid over them for a few minutes will soften them right up.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

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