The Bugs Covering the Trails Black... "Peak Expected on June 24"

Main Outbreak Period: June 15–29
Peak Activity Expected on June 24

The number of adult lovebugs (Plecia nearctica) is expected to surge from mid-June, reaching its peak around June 24.

The summit of Geyangsan Mountain in Incheon was covered with lovebugs on the morning of June 30 last year. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On May 11, the National Institute of Forest Science announced that, based on its predictive model analysis of this year’s lovebug occurrences, the main outbreak period will be from June 15 to June 29, with the peak of activity forecasted for June 24.

This is two days earlier than last year’s main outbreak period, which was from June 17 to July 4. The Institute explained that this reflects the recent rise in spring temperatures.

The Forest Pest Research Division of the Institute predicted the primary activity period and peak activity of lovebugs using observation data from 2023 to 2025 registered on platforms such as Naturing. The predictions utilized actual weather data up to May 3, as well as daily average temperatures from 2020 to 2025.

Lovebugs are a type of corrosive fly observed in East Asian regions such as Japan and China. In Korea, they were first reported in Incheon in 2015, and in 2022, there was a mass outbreak in the northwestern areas, including Eunpyeong-gu in Seoul and Goyang-si in Gyeonggi Province.

Although they do not harm humans or crops, their tendency to be attracted to lights and their high population density are disrupting daily life. In particular, an unprecedented outbreak occurred on Gyeyangsan in Incheon, resulting in piles of dead insects along the hiking trails and summit area, which caused unpleasant odors and other issues.

The lifespan of an adult lovebug is about one week.

Kim Minjoong, a researcher at the National Institute of Forest Science, said, "We compared and verified the predictive model with complaint data received in Eunpyeong-gu and Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, from 2023 to last year," adding, "The prediction error was within one or two days (1.0 to 2.1 days), so there was no significant gap between the predicted and actual occurrence periods, confirming the reliability of the model."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.