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Seoul Launches 24-Hour Task Force as Lovebugs Blanket City

Seoul’s new 24-hour task force is deploying eco-friendly traps to combat lovebug swarms before their natural mid-July decline.

While lovebugs are seen by South Korean officials as 'beneficial insects', scientists warn climate change could lead to an invasion of more harmful species
First reported in Incheon in 2015, South Korea is now annually hit by a weeks-long infestation of 'lovebugs', a type of March fly
On Gyeyangsan Mountain, west of Seoul, at their worst dead lovebugs were 'stacked more than 10 centimetres high, says local official Jung Yong-sun, tasked with pest-control duties
The lovebugs have attracted YouTubers like Sam Jung (L) and Kim Ji-young who film themselves covered in swarms of the insects

Overview

  • Populations blanket apartment buildings, mountain trails and markets across greater Seoul, leaving foul-smelling piles up to 10 centimetres high.
  • Experts say rising summer temperatures have enabled the March flies to survive and multiply in South Korea after first appearing in Incheon in 2015.
  • Local businesses and hikers report contaminated ingredients and stench disruptions as viral videos show K-pop stars and YouTubers swarmed by the insects.
  • The interagency team is trialing water sprays, sticky and light traps and reviewing fungal larvicides while lawmakers consider reclassifying the species under managed-pest regulations.
  • Authorities expect a natural population crash by mid-July but warn that climate change could trigger invasions by more harmful insect species.