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!
Just FYI, the Amazon link for the Zekpro Bug Repeller Bracelets doesn’t work anymore (or at least it didn’t for me).
I was due to arrive on 9 May, but obviously that isn’t happening now (sadly hammered home by Disney cancelling our ADRs on Saturday). Not seeing thousands of Love Bugs is just about the only positive I can think of right now!
That said, I went from 28 April – 12 May in 2018 and never noticed them. Maybe I just missed their peak.
We have been going the last five years for the same two week period, and until last year we never even noticed them. We are there the last week in April and first week in May and we have never experienced the love bugs like we did in 2019. Crossing my fingers they aren’t as bad this year!!
This was interesting!!!
April/May is always worse. Unfortunately they don’t make reservations so there is no way to give exact dates. We were in Disney 9/27-10/02. They were there but my no means were there swarms. We could sit outside at parks and eat COMPLETELY fine!!! Sure I had to do some swatting but it wasn’t freaking me out. Now in May……I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry
We were there late Sept into Oct like you and were surprised at how they took over the pool chairs and we couldn’t use our balcony. I wasn’t as freaked out as my wife but this was our first experience with them. We’ve been there in April and never saw them for some reason. Storm along Bay was a little gross but as long as you stayed in the water it wasn’t bad. In hindisight we got sort of gipped by nature because we never used or balcony except to dry wet clothes on the chairs. The parks were fine like you said though–no problems whatsoever during that time frame. Man I wish our problems were that small now….but I digress.
October 2, 2019 at All Star sports. The bugs are in masses and seem to love doors to your rooms especially upper floors. Really annoying and at times terrifying when you are trying to get into your room and at the same time trying to prevent a swarm from entering your room. Will never go to Disney in early October. Now adding October to my list of months that I won’t visit Disney. May usually way to rainy, June-September usually way to stinking humid. At least the humidity has been pleasant even though the temperatures are approaching 90.
Sorry to hear that.Was there in August which I’ll take the heat as opposed to those darn bugs.
We are planning a trip…you guessed it – IN SEPTEMBER this year 2019 — any guess at all as to when these crazy bugs will be there in Sept.? We’ve been the third and fourth weeks of Sept. in the past and never experienced these bugs – just curious if there is a time frame since you wrote this blog?
Oh, my gosh, we just arrived yesterday and although we have not seen anything like a swarm, it certainly isn’t hard to find these little couples. And every time I see one. I mutter “banging bugs” and giggle like a fool!
We’ll be at Disney the very beginning of June. Will they still be around?
I have been at WDW for the past couple of weeks and the love bugs are driving me nuts! They are everywhere and even though they don’t bite, they land on everything and everyone. They are so annoying. Never seen them like this before despite many trips – I won’t be coming back in May again!
At least they aren’t Kissing bugs!!
Ha ha. We just got home from Disney yesterday and those bugs were a highlight of our trip. My three year old daughter LOVED the love bugs. Once we learned they were harmless and don’t bite, I let her hold them and play with them, and those little fornicating bugs turned wait times into play times while she talked and played with her “friends.”
Omg. I’m laughing as we enter Disney.
We just returned from WDW and I found this post after doing a Google search about how awful the love bugs were! We actually didn’t have as big a problem with them in the park, but they made our morning at the Polynesian pool intolerable. We ended up moving to the beach where they were less bothersome for some reason. They’re bad enough that we’ll avoid May or September visits going forward.
Loved loved the “banging bugs” comment!!!!
Anyone know when they usually start in September? Our trip is August 31-September 7. I have a ten-year-old daughter with autism who will freak out if we are swarmed by bugs. We are already disappointed that we will be dealing with swarming Star Wars fanatics (planned our dream vacay before dates were announced). Now this? Praying it will be after our trip. I suppose there’s no way to predict?
I’ll be right with you praying as I will be there at the same time. I have to say that the love bugs are usually far worse in May. There is no way to predict though.
I grew up in South Mississippi and remember the solid mass of love bugs invading the highways every summer. It was ALWAYS worse in May than in September. We were at Disney last September and they were around but not nearly as bad as early summer. They don’t buzz and aren’t in any way aggressive, just kind of float around aimlessly on the breeze, so hopefully as bugs go they won’t bother your daughter too bad.
I was in wdw 25/8/18-5/9/18 and no sign of them I’m going back 20/5/20 wonder if they will be around then?
We are usually in Florida Orlando area Labor Day weekend for grandson’s birthday. For his first bday we were there August 31st and they were just starting, but didn’t seem to be around much. We are usually gone by Sept 6th or 7th.
I was there in 2019 for most of May and it was crazy! when i hit the Florida-Georgia line they started. That was after May 7th.
There are plenty of places in WDW to be inside if you need to. Maybe if you don’t make a big deal of them and teach your child to just brush them away it would be ok??? Hopefully you will be just fine!
A Florida resident told me don’t swat or squish the Lovebugs because it will release pheromones and attract a thousand more.
I noticed just a scattering of squashed love bugs on the Magical Express windshield yesterday. By the time we arrived at the airport, there had to have been at least 400.
Four of those suckers even got into my closed mug (yuck), which I didn’t discover until my mug was empty, (double yuck). I hate bugs, Don’t even like A Bug’s Life.
Florida resident recommendation – fill a spray bottle with water and a small amount of dish detergent and spray the solution on your pool chair, stroller, clothing, whatever. Voila, no bugs! However, you must re-apply (like you do sunscreen) for it to be effective.
September love bug season is worse than May, which is why I no longer visit in September. Heat, humidity and love bugs sticking to your sweaty self. Yuck! Even Star Wars-GE grand opening couldn’t get me there (well, especially Star Wars-GE grand opening, but that’s another story. Made our last trek to HS last week).
As a Florida resident I disagree that September is worse than May. Usually May is far worse… obviously every year is different. 2006-2007 was exceptionally bad.
When exactly or approximately do these swarms start showing up at WDW?? May 1st?? April 29th? May 5th? April 25th?? Am I likely safe from love bugs if I plan an April 16th or April 20th visit?? Anyone know??
Hahahahahahaa! Great article. The info about them ruining the paint on your car is absolutely true. Welcome to Paradise!!!
I grew up in South Alabama, so love bugs were apart of annual spring life. I now live in Birmingham where we don’t have love bugs. We spent our honeymoon at Disney from April 29th through May 7th. There were a lot of love bugs, but on day three, specifically in Toy Story Land, those things came in droves. I’ve never been to Central Florida this time of year. I don’t know if I could do that every year. Honeymoon was a success, though. Wife got me on tower of terror twice.
If “Tower of Terror” means what I think it does (wink wink), congrats on your marriage and happy honeymoon!
So funny in an article about love bugs.
My wife, 2 daughters (6 yrs and 2yrs old) and I just came back from spending 4 days in WDW and holy sh*t! Walking around the parks in the heat coupled with the sea of love bugs put my patience to the test! Even though we live in Boca Raton, FL and are used to the heat, we’re definitely not used to those love bugs. Even though they dont bite, sting or even make any noise, they’re super annoying and made me duck into every gift shop, and indoor place whenever I could. It was seriously unbearable and I will honestly never go back during their supposed “mating” season. The constant swatting and picking bugs out of my 6 year old daughter’s freshly done up hair she just got done at bippity boppity was something we both didn’t appreciate. The ultimate worst was at Epcot! I have never never seen anything like that. It was like something out of Lord of the Flies, or rather Lord of the Love Bugs. The amount of bugs attacking and swarming people was comical. My advice if you are going to WDW in the next couple weeks, is to bring a bee keeper suit! Good luck.
Tom, this was very informative. As I hate bugs but not Bugs Life, I am comforted to know that they do not harm humans. for the most part it sound like they are just a pain. I will protect my poutine at all costs!!! lol Thanks for all of the information you share about both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, as I spend time in each one each year!!
Wow. Actually this was informative and made me very happy that I never have happened to visit during love bug season. Thank you. So to avoid most of them, basically don’t go in May and September?
We have been in May and September and luckily never experienced this. It’s all about timing and your luck I guess.
Our May trip was exactly this time 10 years ago. May 9th-14th.
I was thinking the same… we went may 17th – 31st 9 years ago and I don’t remember this at all…
Oh so informative but so not good to hear! We will be in Disney May 18th for week…will they still be swarming???
Were headed down in a couple weeks, and I’m sure, beyond all doubt, my daughter will lose her ever loving mind! lol! Wonder if they’re crunchy and what the protein value is?
Luckily for your daughters sake, they will be gone by then!
I’m arriving on May 17th and will be there for a week. Do you think they’ll still be around then?? I’m kind of freaking out about the ikeiness.
I’m wondering as well. I’ll be there may 20th-27th.