Editing Lovebug (section)

==Life cycle==
Female lovebugs can lay as many as 350 eggs and regularly lay these eggs around decaying material on the top layer of ground soil.<ref name="Wenston, J. 2013">Wenston, J., D. E. Short, and M. Pfiester. "Lovebugs in Florida1." EDIS New Publications RSS. University of Florida, 2013. Web. 25 July 2014.</ref> Lovebug eggs generally hatch after 2–4 days, depending on flight season. Once the eggs have hatched, the larvae start feeding on the decaying material around them, such as decaying plants on the soil and other organic material, and live and remain in the soil until they develop to the pupa stage.<ref name="Wenston, J. 2013"/> During the warmer months the lovebug larvae remain in the larvae phase for approximately 120 days and approximately 240 days during the cooler months.<ref>Leppla, Norman C. "Living With Lovebugs." EDIS New Publications RSS. University of Florida/IFAS Extension, 15 Jan. 2007. Web. 24 July 2014</ref> Lovebugs typically stay in the pupa stage about 7–9 days before reaching the adult phase, in which they can start reproducing.<ref>Hetrick LA. 1970a. Biology of the "love-bug," Plecia nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae). Florida Entomologist 53: 23-26.</ref>

Once adults, lovebugs are ready to start [[copulation (zoology)|copulating]] to begin reproducing. Adult male lovebugs emerge first from the pupal stage and hover around until female lovebugs emerge.<ref>Thornhill, Randy. "Dispersal of Plecia Nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae)." The Florida Entomologist 57.1 (1980): 45. ProQuest. Web. 24 July 2014.</ref> Mating between lovebugs takes place immediately after emergence of the adult females.<ref>Thornhill, R. 1976c. Reproductive behavior of the lovebug, Plecia nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 69:843-847</ref> A male lovebug copulates and will remain paired up until the female has been fully fertilized. Copulation takes place for 2–3 days before the female detaches, lays her eggs, and dies. Adult females have been recorded to live up to seven days, while adult males may live up to two to five days, but on average lovebugs live three to four days.<ref>Hieber, C., J. Cohen. 1983. Sexual Selection in the Lovebug, *Plecia nearctica*: The role of male choice. Evolution, 37(5): 987-992.</ref> However, [[Randy Thornhill|Thornhill]] (1976c) recorded recapture data that showed males lived longer in the field than females.<ref name="denmark" />