Lots of love making.....

[Trapper7]

Look at all these love bugs! I've never seen so many bugs before, except ants! They're all over the place! I was warned about this when I came to Florida, watch out for the love bugs!! Our yard is a sea of red now! I think those two in the middle in the first few pics are the parents!

 

[Clint]

Why are you just standing there? Get the Raid!

 

[Ozzy]

Are these baby snowbirds?

That looks just how the snowbirds have infested this area. I wonder if raid will work on them too.

 

[Finch]

Looks to me to be a species of Jadera and nymphs. Love bug is so... undescriptive.

Species: Golden Raintree Bug. Look here for more info

Benificial by eating the seeds of a invasive tree.

Same insect, Yes?

Yes.

 

[Trapper7]

I was just calling them Love Bugs cause that's what I was told they were by someone here on this forum who lives in Florida, I can't remember who. I don't want to kill them, they're not doing any harm. Baby snowbirds? I don't think so, I cant have THAT many babies

Edit- I just looked it up and yes we do have a Golden Rain tree in our yard, we never knew what kind of tree it was. Good to know

 

[FarmerDave]

wow! they're all over each other!

 

[buster1]

I don't want to alarm you, but I don't think that they are Love Bugs. Love Bug season in Fl is April-May and August-September. Also Love Bugs are mostly black with some red up near the head. I think its probably just an invasion of some carnivorous flesh-eating alien invasive species - you're in Florida now, you have to expect things like that.

 

[Ozzy]

Quote[/b] ]I think its probably just an invasion of some carnivorous flesh-eating alien invasive species

I think you have to lay down in the middle of them to rule out the possiablity of them being flesh eating.

 

[joossa]

Wow there are so many...

 

[DerbyCityNeps]

didnt they think love bugs were some genetic experiment that escaped?..........................

Alex

 

[Clint]

No, that was white people. Havn't you ever heard of Louis Farrakhan?

 

[herenorthere]

Given the choice between Farrakhan and (Pat) Robertson, I'll take Farrakhan.  Even if I am a white devil.

Back to the topic at hand; my grandparents moved to Florida and then complained about lovebugs.  How anyone could live in a neighborhood full of old people yet only find a problem with insects is something I'll never understand.

 

[tbone]

When I lived in Florida, the love bugs would eat paint off some of the cars.
Brian

 

[FarmerDave]

Yeah those are deffinately some kind of assassin bugs

 

[Finch]

Ack did anyone read my post? This is the problem with common names. The insect commonly refered to as love bug is

this bug that everyone else is seeming to refer to- tbone, buster1, etc. Plecia nearctica! That bug...

Quote[/b] ]Its character as a public nuisance is due not to its bite or sting (as it is not capable of either) but to its apparently highly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne love bugs are drawn in enormous numbers to roadways, they die en masse on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills. If left for more than an hour or two, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove, and their acidity pits and etches automotive paint and chrome

Goldenraintree big is a seed bug that ONLY feeds on goldenraintree seeds and seeds of other related plants *gruble*

 

[buster1]

Lighten up - its the holidays. Yes I read your post. Nobody that I remember was doubting your identification. Trapper assumed that it was a plague of Love bugs, so the discussion lead there. Besides living in Florida and having seen both - Love bugs are much more interesting to discuss than some run-of-the-mill-tree seed-eating insects. Also while I do agree with you on the problem of regional common names of organisms I see no solution. Most people have never heard of taxonomy or binomial nomenclature and are not going to sit down and learn the scientific names of the organisms they discuss. I teach zoology and most of my students won't - and they're getting graded on it.

 

[Finch]

I dont care about my identification- i care that there was a mix up that needed to be sorted out. There was discussion of two types of insects being described, and since no one else seemed fit to sort it out, i did. I assumed Trapper would want to know that the bugs in her yard wouldnt eat the paint off her car. I know I would want to know. Atleast now she knows what love-bugs we are talking about. Since i dont know what else to call them besides love bugs, i have to use the name to distinguish that these are not  the same species as the one she has in her yard.

I listed your name, yes. It was meant to indicate that that was the bug you were refering to. The re-statement of the seed eating was for dave- assasin bugs bite- hard- so i wanted to show that they were no threat.

 

[Trapper7]

Nope, they're not assasin bugs, I pick these guys up all the time and they never bite me, they make my hands stink though

taxonomy, binomial nomenclature

 

[FarmerDave]

oh well then their a type of simple insect with simple insect mandibles and body structure. probably stink bugs that look like assassin bugs, even though we do have some assassin bugs around our house that are holdable but also make your hands stinky

 

[neon-eon]

Man, those bugs look so bizzare...They look like they would glow in the dark or something. If those things were in my yard I would freak.