Love Bugs at Disney World
It’s May once more, which means lovebug season has ‘officially’ returned to Walt Disney World. This post rants a bit about these insects, shares info & tips for avoiding love and other bugs during their peak months in Florida, and more. (Updated May 15, 2023.)
Known as the month of merriment and renewal, May is when poets write of lovers, subject to the same force which reawakens the plants, feel their hearts open again. Named after Maia, the goddess of springtime and growth, May is a gentle and warm month that causes flowers to blossom, crops to sprout, and people to dance.
That is, unless you’re in Florida. Sure, love is in the air, but it’s in bug form. The state also has 20 million genetically modified mosquitoes that were released last year in the Florida Keys, as part of a landmark project during which researchers learned absolutely nothing from this highly-scientific Simpsons clip. This is to say nothing of invasive species, which are exploding in the state per a very amusing/scary “dispatch from Florida” in National Geographic.
Cutting to the chase, are you wondering why little pests are all around Walt Disney World? (No, we’re not talking about small children–sorry for the confusion.) These are swarms of flying insects known as lovebugs, and they appear twice per year in Central Florida. Lovebug season usually occurs in May and September, although the actual “intensity” of the season varies dramatically based on weather conditions. Some years, lovebug season is awful; other years, it’s nonexistent.
Dr. Norman Leppla, a professor of entomology and nematology at the University of Florida explains that lovebugs require a “Goldilocks” environment to thrive. Not too wet, not too dry–just right. Essentially, average rainfall occurring relatively consistently during the winter.
Lovebug larvae live in decaying vegetation at the soil surface. If the habitat is too wet, they drown. If the environment is too dry, the larvae dries up. Last year, the Orlando area had over 7 inches less rainfall than average by the start of lovebug season. This included several stretches of uninterrupted dry weather, which effectively dried up the lovebug larvae.
The 2023 lovebug season shouldn’t be that bad in Central Florida, as Orlando only saw 5.81 inches of precipitation over the first 4 months of the year. That’s a sharp contrast to last year, when the City Beautiful saw approximately 12 inches of rain over that same timeframe.
Last year was 3 inches above normal, which resulted in the worst year for lovebugs since 2019. This year is about 3 inches below average, which means another relatively quiet year on the lovebug front. To that point, lovebugs flew under the radar in 2020-2021, but were worse in 2019 and 2022.
In fact, 2019 was the worst lovebug season we’ve ever experienced at Walt Disney World (and we’ve visited or resided in Central Florida during this ‘season’ every year for the last decade-plus). The first day driving during lovebug season that year, we thought a light rain had started. Turns out it was just a ‘bug drizzle’ hitting the windshield. Fortunately, 2023 shouldn’t be nearly that bad!
Like Pop Warner and Jersey Week, love bug seasons are seemingly unexplainable natural phenomenons that’s spoken of in hushed whispers among Walt Disney World fans. No one likes the annual infestations, but we don’t want to anger our new insect overlords that the ‘it’s tough to be a bug’ documentary at Animal Kingdom warned us about.
The awful 2019 lovebug season is actually what originally inspired this post. In Epcot, love bugs were swarming everywhere, but a harmless irritant. That is, until a pair flew at my mouth while I was eating poutine fries. No person or pest gets between me and my poutine. Enough is enough. No more whispering–it’s time for a proverbial yell.
Kidding aside, there are a lot of myths about lovebugs. Despite having ample experience with the insects over the years, the entirety of my knowledge prior to researching them out of curiosity (which in turn led to this blog post) consisted of people on social media asking, “what’s up with all of the bugs at Walt Disney World right now?!” and locals giving their answers.
My favorite of the lovebug myths is that they are the result of a genetic experiment gone wrong at the University of Florida, which has gained so much traction that it has a Snopes page. While that’s a great urban legend and should absolutely be used by Capcom for the next Resident Evil plot, it’s false.
According to the University of Florida’s own site, the school did not introduce the love bug to the state. Of course the University of Florida would want to throw us off the scent and deny being the cause. However, [joke redacted because I have no dog in the South’s college rivalry fight, and also the good sense not to bring the wrath ~25% of Floridians down upon me].
In actuality, lovebugs migrated from Central America, traveling through Texas and Louisiana before arriving in Florida in the twentieth century. The bugs were seen in Louisiana as early as 1911, and common in Texas, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the 1940s. By the end of the 20th century, lovebugs had spread heavily to all areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Georgia and South Carolina.
The lovebug (Plecia nearctica) is also known as the honeymoon fly or double-headed bug. The name is derived from (kids, skip this paragraph) their affinity for public fornication. May and September are their mating periods, during which time they are joined in flight. Even after mating has ended, adult pairs remain coupled–even in flight–for several days.
Lovebugs have two mating periods, one in the spring and one in the fall. Each of these last for about four weeks, with May and September being peak lovebug season. These insects are usually most active between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., in temperatures above 84°F.
In terms of debunking some other myths, lovebugs are not drawn to any particular colors or scents at Walt Disney World or on tourists. They are attracted to decomposing plant debris, but may confuse these odors with chemicals in exhaust fumes. Heat also attracts lovebugs.
These two reasons in tandem are why lovebugs are especially common on roadways around Walt Disney World, and why your car will look like it just plowed straight through the Battle of Winterfell after only a few miles. They are a ‘neutral’ insect, but bacteria increases their acidity meaning they can damage automobile paint if they are “baked” in the sun over the course of days.
If you’re driving to and around Walt Disney World in your own vehicle, it’s recommended that you get a car wash or put an extra layer of wax on as a protective layer before leaving home. (There are three Speedway gas stations around Walt Disney World property.) As for clean-up, one of the most popular hacks is to use a wet dryer sheet to swab off the bugs.
As for humans, lovebugs are mainly a nuisance. Lovebugs are not poisonous, and they do not bite, sting, or transmit diseases. In terms of avoiding lovebugs, there aren’t really any great hacks for that. Chemical pesticides and sprays are ineffective on lovebugs.
The little pairs are ubiquitous this time of year. Having two banging bugs fly into your open mouth may not be your ideal vacation experience…but it’s probably even worse for them, so there’s that silver lining, I suppose. Suffice to say, lovebugs are incredibly frustrating.
Love bugs don’t pose any risk to humans whatsoever (and couldn’t bite even if they wanted to), but they’re incredibly annoying. They are literally everywhere right now, and while most of what’s written above is in jest, you can’t walk around Walt Disney World for long right now without them flying into you or you running into them.
It’s worth noting that for centuries, Florida was viewed as uninhabitable and inhospitable for humans. That’s no joke (for a slightly amusing read, check out “A Requiem for Florida, the Paradise That Should Never Have Been“). While water management and the miracle of air-conditioning have made aspects of Florida more tolerable, Mother Nature cannot be tamed.
Bugs and severe weather remain an issue in Florida for much of the year. While lovebugs are all the rage right now, other insects can be problematic later in the summer. I’ve personally never had much of an issue with mosquitos, and find Walt Disney World’s mosquito monitoring and prevention program to be pretty effective.
Sarah, on the other hand, is like ‘bugnip’ to insects. She now swears by Buzz Away, which is a natural and DEET-free insect repellant. Before that, she found these Zekpro Bug Repeller Bracelets effective; at Walt Disney World you’re already wearing at least one bracelet, and adding too many starts to approach hippie territory.
As the official start of Atlantic hurricane season approaches in only a few months, we’d also refer you to our Tips for Visiting Walt Disney World During Storm Season. There have already been a couple of intense afternoon showers of late, and that’s only going to become more frequent as we approach summer.
Ultimately, I realize this wasn’t the most helpful or informative article, especially since the only thing for combating lovebugs while in the parks is “you can’t really do anything.” Nevertheless, hopefully you found my venting interesting or useful. Or, maybe you’ve also had lovebugs pester you all day or fly into your mouth while eating poutine, in which case, we can commiserate with one another’s pain and frustration!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Have you ever experienced the annual love bug plague at Walt Disney World? Have any ranting of your own to do about them? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I am seriously LOLing right now. You’re the best Tom! I hope you were able to still enjoy your poutine!
I love your blog and have followed you for several years. Lots of great information and has always made our planning for Disney so easy. I was wondering if you frequent the Universal parks as well and have a blog for those?
Weird, we were there in September and I do not remember seeing any of these bugs?!
May is almost always worse than September.
You like to live dangerously. Umbrella Corp. has eyes and ears everywhere!!
Hey Tom! I’m heading to Disney next week and my wife has an extreme phobia to any type of bug…We had no idea this was a thing and after so much research we somehow never saw this.
Will the bugs still be extremely bad next week? I’ve read that the life cycle at most is a week but we are unsure how it works.
She is extremely worried now and any reassurance from you guys or Tom would help me a lot, thanks.
One September I was driving from West Palm to Disney World. Being from NY, I had never encountered these bugs before, and suddenly I had smushed bugs ALL OVER the windshield of my rental car. I had no idea what was going on. I pulled into a gas station to clean the windshield, and couldn’t manage to get into the car without a few love bugs flying in with me. So gross!!! But then strangely didn’t encounter them once I got to Disney. Great article.
Just realized these were the “two- headed lightning bugs” that my 7 year old saw outside space mountain last September.
As a Midwesterner who has very little familiarity with these insects, I honestly clicked on this article thinking there was some new Herbie-themed experience coming to the parks! (and wondering why that would possibly be the case…)
I just got back from a WDW trip and caught the beginning of “love bug” season. EPCOT was a nightmare with the Flower and Garden fest still going. These things were everywhere! Being from Kansas, I’ve never seen bugs like this before. I was freaking out at first, thinking they would sting me, but as Tom said, they don’t bite or sting. My advice would be to calmly explain this to your kids if you encounter Love Bugs. Two poor little kids (like maybe 3) were screaming in terror behind me on the parking tram, thinking they were going to be stung. Overall, don’t let the Love Bug migration keep you from visiting Disney in April/May. It’s really not that big of a problem. If bugs bother you so much, don’t bother booking a trip to Florida anytime of the year.
Besides, if it’s not Love Bugs infesting the parks, it’s sure to be the cheerleaders! You can’t avoid them!
You mean you don’t take your poutine to Innoventions West and eat it there? Amateur! 😛
These things caught me by surprise – I visit every May, and I hadn’t ever noticed them before. And I am extemely osbervant.
can you stay at the hotel with the herbie bug
Have you ever experienced the figeater beetle invasion at Disneyland? Common in July and August, they are HUGE iridescent green flying bugs that often fly toward people as if they’re blind. They don’t bite, but they’re horrifying. They’re common near flowery trees and vines, especially on the Disneyland side of the esplanade and in Disneyland’s central plaza. Common throughout SoCal wherever there are flowery trees. They are my biggest fear of the summer.
I hate those things so much! They are huge and make a loud buzzing noise when they fly by. My wife laughs at me because I will duck and cover if I see or hear one of them. Sometimes I mistake the buzzing of hummingbirds for them which causes even more hilarity.
I once had one fly in my drink while I was sitting outside and it almost knocked my cup over. Needless to say, I wasn’t thirsty anymore.
Glad I’m not the only one!!
Being a “tourist from NY” we seldom encounter these little “Lovelys” but have encountered them on one occasion in South Carolina . Having many of the same experiences as you describe I questioned the “locals” as to what they were. After being informed the most important take away was the damage that they can do to your cars finish. Having a new vehicle I can’t tell you how many visits to any Car Wash we made that trip. Seeing the damage on local residents cars that had occurred made those Car Wash a NO BRAINER. You have done a GIANT service by bringing this up to unsuspecting tourists.
Speaking up as a biologist (Ph.D. in Behavioral Ecology) I can add that you left out the common name for the species as used by all field biologists: the not exactly Disney-friendly, and definitely NSFW, “f***-flies”.
Hahaha, that’s great! Given that Sarah and I actually had a conversation about whether my use of “banging bugs” was appropriate for a Disney blog before I published this, I think it’s safe to say “f***-flies” would not have made the cut.
Were those Love Bugs in your Poutine or shredded beef?
Uh… and I was thinking May would be a good time to visit… but I really have problems with soo many insects flying around me… I just can’t stand them…(even if they don’t harm me…they just stress me out )
I guess I’ll never find a good time to visit WDW…( and I don’t really have that high standards… no Halloween overlay, around 20 degrees Celsius or more because I like it warm..and it shouldn’t be all that wet…oh and now a new one: not that many bugs…)
Anyways, I always love reading your posts!
I agree, these sound like they might make for a very uncomfortable vacation. My sons really hate bugs.
I was thinking of visiting next May but, very glad I read this article before booking any flights. Now I’m thinking maybe April instead!? Hopefully no major bug infestations in April?
I was just there at the beginning of April and am happy to report there were no love bugs flying around. Thank goodness too as I am utterly terrified of bugs lol.
Beni – Visit in March. All the requirements you seek 🙂
I’m a University if Georgia grad, so I’m just going to go ahead and blame UF.
Annnd own that typo, too, I guess.
That’s not a typo since the I and the o are next to each other… it’s more of a finger drift.
(Insert UGA grad joke here)
Love,
UF grad
I know, I know. Sigh. AT LEAST I DIDN’T CREATE A PLAGUE OF F***-FLIES! 😛
This was an excellent article, and as I sit here on UF’s campus writing this comment, I applaud you for doing your due diligence and not perpetuating the “UF-experiment-gone-wrong” poppycock.
If it helps at all, I’ve lived here almost my entire life and I don’t really notice them all that much any more. Maybe you guys just need to move to FL permanently, endure a few decades of their annoyance, and then you’ll be cured?
On any note – I’ll gladly take dealing with lovebugs over the South American school tour groups at Disney in spring time any day! Any tips on coping with those?
“Your Source for Disney Poppycock” is actually this blog’s motto, so perhaps I should reconsider and perpetuate the myth! 😉
When exactly do these bugs show up? I was going to plan a May WDW Vacation but this bug report has caused me to reconsider. Thanks for the warning Tom! Glad I read this before booking anything. Now I’m thinking maybe late April instead? Are we safe from hoards of Love Bugs in the last 2 weeks of April or no? My Sons both really hate bugs and so does my brother who was thinking of possibly joining us with some of his family. I have been to WDW many times but never in May. I dont want my brothers first trip to WDW to be one where he was terrorized by bugs!! When do these bugs usually start showing up in hoards??
We were only there in lovebug season once several years ago – I have not missed it since then! 🙂 I seem to remember the dinosaur area of AK being especially plagues on that trip.
Was the picture with the Bug’s Life characters from a marathon? We’ve seen Flick and Princess Atta, but never the walking stick.
That was from the Animal Kingdom DVC party a year or two ago. I only look like I’m in the process of running a marathon because of the humidity.
Anyone from the UK, Avon Skin So Soft is a brilliant insect repellent!
Also am I the only person on here who thinks poutine is gross??
“Also am I the only person on here who thinks poutine is gross??”
I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m a total sucker for poutine. Even bad poutine is a guilty pleasure of mine.
I agree, poutine is gross!
Poutine is definitely in the mouth of the beholder. It always sounded too gross when I was visiting Canada, but somehow at Disney everything is fat-free, carb-free, sugar-free, calorie-free and TOTALLY HEALTHY – especially if washed down with ample adult beverages. And this is guaranteed – as long as you never leave Disney Properties. Afterwards, all bets are off.
I love it now so much that I get the Annual Pass Platinum just to be able to order the “SPECIAL” AP Poutine at Le Cellier.
If you haven’t had Poutine IN Canada, you haven’t had poutine 😉 (and Le Cellier doesn’t count as being in Canada!!)
A. Poutine is indeed gross.
B. Skin So Soft is widely available in the US as well.