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Love Bugs #789940

Asked May 09, 2022, 4:56 PM EDT

Ohhh my goodness! After enjoying Mother's Day lunch with my son, we came home to an "infestation" of love bugs on the patio! I mixed up a spray of orange bio liquid, mouthwash and some dish soap. Got a lot of corpses but his afternoon they are BACK again! I have 3 savannah holly trees that have been there for nearly 30 years and my neighbor on other side of fence has flowering vines. I have NEVER seen this before. What is causing this and what do I do about it? Thank you for your help Claudia Iselt

Harris County Texas

Expert Response

Lovebugs are a common sight this time of year in eastern parts of Texas.  They emerge in very large numbers, stick around for 4 weeks or so.  Adults feed on nectar and only live about 4 days, while immatures feed on decaying vegetation, so both are considered to be beneficial overall as pollinators (adults) and decomposers (immatures) and then won't be seen again until later in the summer.

Lovebugs can be a nuisance when they occur in large numbers like around your home.  You can suck up the adults with a shopvac or you could spray a residual pesticide (such as bifentrhin, cyfluthrin, permethrin) on the surfaces to kill the lovebugs that land on the house, but treatment is unecessary.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied May 17, 2022, 10:06 AM EDT

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