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Love bugs driving you to hate driving?
By GabeSemenza in Crowdsourcing
April 29, 2008

At least cockroaches try to remain hidden.

Love bugs, on the other hand, flaunt their, well, love for one another. They certainly don't try to hide.

As they are every year at this time, the nuisance seems to be everywhere -- especially on our windshields.

"Love bugs fly in our face as if they are trying to ruin our day. And they can come pretty close to doing just that," local columnist Ro Wauer wrote. "The front of my vehicle was literally covered with their carcasses after a recent trip to town and back. And when parked in town, they gathered around my vehicle, waiting for me, preparing to smash their little bodies into my windshield as soon as I took off. As soon as got home, I was forced to wash my vehicle, something I hate to do."

Have you had a similar experience? If so, we want to talk with you.

We're doing a fun feature on the detested little nuisance, but we'll also look at some facts about the love bug. Why are they so, hmm, affectionate with one another, for example.

Is your windshield covered in the bugs? Have they invaded your porch? Packed off a small child?

Aprill Brandon is covering the story. If you're interested in helping, post your experience in here or contact her at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com.

Thanks for your -- swat -- help.

Gabe Semenza, Advocate public service editor

Comments


  • CF CF Report a ViolationReport a Violation
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    Here's a pretty interesting article on the little critters, complete with history and possible removal tactics:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_bug

    I remember these bugs quite well from my years in Victoria.  Definitely one of the things I DON'T miss about the place, LOL.

    April 29, 2008 at 10:21 p.m.

  • victorianbybirth victorianbybirth Report a ViolationReport a Violation
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    They always seem the absolute worst on 77 South to the Valley.....remember 1 year you could see the swarms as you were driving 70+ miles an hour into them....reminded me of that sci-fi movie Swarm.  They do ruin a paint job if not washed off in a timely fashion.

    April 29, 2008 at 9:22 p.m.

  • GabeSemenza GabeSemenza Report a ViolationReport a Violation
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    Good questions, scorpio. We'll look into them for the story. In the meantime, can we contact you for the story? You'd be a good person for us to interview because other readers could relate to you.
    tomtom: I'm interested, also, to find an answer to your question. We talked about that in this morning's news budget meeting. (Three of us are from Colorado, and we didn't have love bugs there.)
    Great tip, too, VietnamVet.
    scorpio: to share your story, e-mail Aprill Brandon your phone number. Her e-mail is abrandon@vicad.com.
    You can also e-mail me and I can help set things up. My e-mail is gsemenza@vicad.com
    Thanks for sharing, everyone.

    April 29, 2008 at 7:45 p.m.

  • VietnamVet VietnamVet Report a ViolationReport a Violation
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    Don't forget to wash off your radiator real well, too.  They can plug up the fins affecting your cooling system.

    April 29, 2008 at 6:11 p.m.