Divorce and war withstanding, some still believe love transcends all. If you’re doubtful, you can find the perfect argument for this philosophy in the lovebug.

Here is an insect that spends the vast majority of its mature life locked in love’s embrace.  Lovebugs mate even during flight, which occurs in the spring, fall and sometimes December in Florida. And when the male dies, the female will drag him around with her until she lays her eggs.

This insect’s passion is memorialized in all its nicknames – lovebug, honeymoon fly and double-headed bug, among them. Lovebugs, which are primarily found in the Southeast U.S. and in the Gulf Coast states are considered beneficial because the larvae eat dying vegetation in grass thatch, providing nutrients to the grass as well as thinning the thatch.

Not everyone sees their positive attributes, however. While they’re not big bugs, they can be a mess. Even diehard romantics distain lovebugs during season. If you’ve ever had to drive through a swarm of lovebugs – which can range into the hundreds of thousands during flight – you know why: The car is splattered with them and they’re not easy to clean off, especially after a long journey.

Never fear. Here’s a technique to remove dead lovebugs.

1. Spray the car with water, and then wash the affected area with a sponge, soap and water. Rinse.
2. Wet a dryer fabric-softener sheet in your soap bucket and use it to wash any lovebug remnants from the same area. The fabric softener and coarse texture of the dryer sheet break down the remains.
3. Rinse and repeat on other affected areas of the car.

Always remember – The Mousecar is riding around with his windows down, looking for more friends on Facebook (Truly Nolen Mousecar) and tweeps on Twitter (@TrulyNolen) – interested?

Barry “The Bug Guy”

Welcome to the inaugural installment of “The Insect Inquirer,” a first-of-its kind weekly blog dedicated to keeping readers informed about everything and anything that has to do with bugs.

Many of you know me as “Barry the Bug Guy”, a nickname that comes from my dedication to helping people better understand bugs of all kinds, from large to small, black to white, A to Z. As national spokesperson for Truly Nolen of America, I’ve been lucky enough to teach viewers during my hundreds of television appearances what it’s like to be stung by bees, taste crispy cricket cookies and show the damage termites can do to a home.

Actually, now that I think about it, there is no luck involved when you taste a crispy cricket, allow yourself to be stung by hundreds of bees or serve as the runway for a live tarantula – the word I meant to say was foolish!

While I certainly don’t hide the fact that I go to extremes sometimes, it’s because pests are a reality of everyday life. Did you know there are over 94,000 species of pests in the United States? And that doesn’t even include Republicans and Democrats! But I digress…

Pests can not only cause physical damage to your home, they can also spread germs, irritate allergies and generally make the environment in your home uncomfortable, like when your in-laws drop in for that unexpected visit.

During my 20 years in the pest control industry, it has never been more apparent that if one person has a question about a particular insect problem, many others are looking for answers. It is my hope that this blog will become an additional source of information about insects in the world, as well as a forum for readers to comment on what’s particularly “bugging” them.

Best of all, I can share my Bug Guy experiences as I continue to travel throughout America and let you know on which station I will be appearing next, so you can fully grasp how foolish, err, lucky I really am!

I invite you to check back for my weekly entries on timely topics such as global warming, the shrinking killer bee population, earlier outbreaks of West Nile Virus and other assorted insect issues.

For next week, send me your best bug story…don’t worry if it’s too embarrassing…we’re all in this together!

Barry the Bug Guy