If you live in Florida you know a little something about lovebugs. You know they can be annoying and that they seem to disappear for most of the year. But here are some facts about lovebugs you may not have known:
1. Lovebugs are actually good for the environment. When grass is cut and the excess falls to the ground, it creates a covering known as thatch, where immature lovebugs live and eat. Through this process, they redistribute essential nutrients back into the ground that are beneficial to plants and the environment.
2. Rumors that lovebugs were created by the University of Florida as an experiment to control mosquitoes are false. They migrated to the U.S. from Central America in the 1920s and to Florida in the 1940s.
3. An adult love bug only lives for three to fours days, and those days are mostly filled with mating.
4. May marks the mating season for the nuisance bugs, and it lasts four weeks. Then, they do it again in September.
5. The male and female attach themselves at the rear of the abdomen and remain that way at all times, even in flight.
6. After mating, the male dies and is dragged around by the female until she lays her eggs
7. Lovebugs are also known as double-headed bugs, honeymoon flies, kissybugs and telephone bugs
8. Lovebugs are found in the southeastern United States and in some areas of Central America.
9. A female lovebug can lay up to 350 eggs
10. Wind currents have lifted these insects up as high as 1500 feet in the air
