Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Plecia americana

male love bug - Plecia americana - male Love Bug - Plecia americana - male Love Bug - Plecia americana - female Love Bug - Plecia americana - female Love Bug - Plecia americana - female Bibio - Plecia americana - female March Fly  - Plecia americana - male March Fly - Plecia americana
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera))
Infraorder Bibionomorpha (Gnats, Gall Midges, and March Flies)
Family Bibionidae (March Flies)
Genus Plecia (Lovebugs)
Species americana (Plecia americana)
Explanation of Names
Plecia americana Hardy 1940
Identification
P. americana is red laterally and ventrally on the thorax
Range
se US: NC & SC to MO - Map (BG & GBIF data), uncommon
Habitat
a woodland species that does not seem to be a problem on highways.
Season
only coll’ed in April-June, with no evidence of a fall emergence.
See Also
The Lovebug, P. nearctica, is black laterally and ventrally on the thorax and has a fall flight period.
- can be *abundant* along se. US coastal plains
Print References
Hardy DE. (1940) Studies in New World Plecia (Bibionidae: Diptera). Part I. J. Kans. Ent. Soc. 13: 15-27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25081585
Internet References
Featured Creatures - H.A. Denmark and F.W. Mead, 2012