In some areas of Seoul and Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, swarms of insects called ‘love bugs’ have appeared, and residents are complaining regarding inconvenience.
According to various online communities on the 3rd, there are postings stating that love bugs have appeared in large numbers in the western part of Seoul, including Eunpyeong-gu, and that they enter the house or are stuck on windows and are suffering damage.
One netizen said, “It’s crazy, really. At first, I thought I might simply kill a few.” “The two were just sticking to the ceiling of the living room, so I just disposed of them with tissue paper, but an hour passed. Suddenly, eight appeared in groups. Almost at night. It was around 11 o’clock. I started to feel afraid.”
Cases of damage caused by love bugs are also pouring into local online communities. Local residents said, “It’s our 13th floor and I saw it in the kitchen” “I caught it all evening the previous night” “It’s stuck to the outside window” “It’s so disgusting that I look back and it’s really crowded.”
In fact, as complaints regarding love bugs flooded, it is said that ward and city halls, community centers, and local public health centers are disrupting other tasks. The specific reason for the sudden increase in this bug this year has not been confirmed, but it is analyzed that wet weather is the biggest factor.
Love bugs are weak in dry weather and often die naturally. However, this year, it is estimated that the number of individuals has not decreased as the rainy season continued for several days in the metropolitan area at the end of June, the breeding season for love bugs. It is analyzed that one of the causes is that the ward office or public health center did not prevent the disease in time because spraying pesticides with rain was not effective.
Love Bug’s official name is ‘Plicia Niactica’. Found in Central America and off the southeastern coast of the United States, it is a fly family less than a centimeter in size. During mating, as well as during flight, the male and female pair in pairs, hence the nickname Love Bug.
It is not poisonous, does not bite humans, and does not transmit diseases, but the characteristic appearance of love bugs is disgusting and has a habit of flying to humans as well.
Reporter Lee Song-ryeol at Hankyung.com yisr0203@hankyung.com