Here in good ol’ Tallahassee, FL, we are descended upon by locusts at least twice a year. Actually, this season is not one of the great blights of Egypt. It’s called “Love Bug Season.” This event, usually occuring in the spring, and sometimes in the fall, involves swarms of slow flying black bugs, which fly either alone or copulating in mid air (hence the name).
They are relatively harmless, but are quite annoying, and their acidic bodies eat into automobile finishes, splatter to make windshields opaque, and basically just go about puttering around in the air, flying leisurely and screwing.
My question stems from what I saw a few months back. A family of traveling yankees gets out of their car at a gas station. After standing outside the car for several seconds, they yankee sees the swarms of bugs, and begins swatting and ducking, trying to keep from being stung. Meanwhile, many a bewildered southerner are standing around, scratching their heads at this crazy yankee trying not to get stung by the Manatee of bugs.
From where did these annoying pests come? My grandparents are unable to recall seeing them in their youth, leading me to believe they were an introduced species. Any “Love Bug” experts out there?
