Love bug season in Florida
 

Well its the dreaded 2nd part of Love Bug season in Florida. If you live in the southeast states you know all about this. In Florida it happens twice a year May and Sep. They are small flying bugs that come out twice a year to mate. They attach themselves to each other and swarm all over the place. Forget about highway driving or driving in rural areas as your car will be covered in them. They are really bad for the paint as their juices will cut through the clear coat if you dont wash them off quickly. Anyway my Z stays in the garage for about 4 weeks this time of year or I just use it on short trips.

Yeah, it sucks big time which reminds me. I forgot to clean them off my car this afternoon. Heading out the door to do so.

Yea you know the deal. Got to get them off and check that you get the dried juice off...

The juice is my favorite part of the season. :ugh:

I moved to Florida in 2004. At the time I owned a 2002 Z06. I did not know about love bugs. We decided to visit friends in Kissimmee which is about 2 hours south of me on the Florida turnpike. Wow, what a surprise when we got there !!! My friend and I spent about 2 hours getting them off the nose, windshield, mirror and even the roof. He advised me to drive home late at night as there was not many bugs out at that time of day. That being said when I got home I still spent another hour getting the second round of bugs off.

They’re flying around up here in Georgetown SC, just all over the place :wtf2:

I feel your pain my friend !!!

Dad call’s them F & K bugs :icon17:

Yep, I drive my truck mostly this time of year but even then lovebug removal is a daily event. Of course, I don't have to be as gentle with my truck as I do my black Z.

Debugging the Z takes a lot of patience, soap and water (and maybe some clay bar). Then I slap some wax on the affected areas.

If there's just a couple I use this: https://www.amazon.com/Mothers-16719...ustomerReviews

Yes I agree, patience is needed when removing the bugs "especially on a black car"... If your too aggressive you can do more damage then the bugs.

I will take the luv marks because you can correct those. The luv bug marks are permanent. Unless you wet sand them and then polish back out. Most of the time that ends with the clear being too thin and a couple of years later the clearcoat goes to hell.

My wife's vette stays in the garage never to be seen during luv bug season. My car's front end is already done for. I need a repaint on the nose and hood to be perfect. I made a blunder 2 year ago during one of the hurricane recoveries at work. Had to drive to Jax and didn't get them off. That night, it was too late. The damage was already done.

My memory must be faulty (yeah, I mean worse than usual) as I don't remember the September issue in Mississippi.

I remember them in May for decades. Perhaps I was paying more attention to something else in September previously, but this year they are definitely here--not as bad as in May but still an annoyance.

My first investment in my Z was a full clear bra for this reason. Best money I ever spent.

I actually just decided to not even drive my Z at all for the past 2-3 weeks because I didn't want to deal with it this time.