Sex is everywhere you turn on the highways of Southeast Texas. Yes, I am talking about the Love Bug swarm is here again, the skies above are black and orange again …
I had to take the G-mobile in to get it cleaned by professionals after traveling around Cow Bayou in Orange County this afternoon. I mean those f**king bugs are literally everywhere. It is like a ground-level version of the Mile High Club.
If you don’t know what Love Bugs are then here’s the scoop. They are also known as Plecia nearctica Hardy. These are, according to Texas AgriLife Extension: ” … about 1/2-inch long, black with an reddish-orange area on the top of the thorax, and a pair of smoky colored wings. They are all weak fliers.”
Aggie Extension service goes on to say: “Large numbers of adults emerge primarily in the spring (May) and fall (September). Males and females fly and couple in open areas along roadways, appearing to swarm in weak flight.”
The high numbers of bugs are quite aptly described by TAMU as “annoying.” The bugs can cause obscured vision from its splatter on the windshields of cars and the bugs committing hari-kari on radiators can lead to overheating. Likewise, the bugs can cause severe, permanent damage to a car’s paint job if not washed off in reasonably quick order. How quick is quick? Every two miles. Yes, get out of your car with a pail of warm, soapy water every two miles and give the front of your car a good washing. Just joking. But seriously, I don’t see how it would hurt to wash the bugs off at the end of every day you drive, if possible.
There are tons of ways to protect your auto from these horny little insects, everything from a car bra to spraying the front of your car with Pam or swabbing the car with baby oil. My local county extension office told me this afternoon that warm, soapy water is good to wash the bugs off. Newsprint is a great way to dry and rub down the windshield and grill. Why newsprint? Beats me. A friend in the fire department showed me when we washed fire trucks how great it works and even though I was in the newspaper business a lot longer than being in the fire suppression business, I never thought to ask about it.
Call your local county consumer or agriculture agent for more information and they might, most likely will, have some better information. I am not liable for anything that happens to your car if you follow my suggestions. I am not liable for anything, period. I am liable to eat something bad for me, but that is about as far as it goes. GIT OUT OF HERE! I was talking to those love bugs
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