How to identify bugs that splat on your windshield

He studies insects caught in traffic
06/14/2006 01:00 AM EDT
BY MIKE ADAMICK
Knight Ridder Newspapers

It's easy to identify bugs when they're flitting around flowers, buzzing your face or munching on your picnic.

The rules are simple: Houseflies are black, bees are yellow and black, ladybugs are red and black, and cockroaches are just dis . . . gust . . . ing.

But how do you identify them when they're plastered to your windshield?

Dr. Mark Hostetler has the answer.

A professor of wildlife and conservation at the University of Florida and author of That Gunk on Your Car: A Unique Guide to Insects of North America, Hostetler is a self-professed "splatologist" who has made it his mission to unlock the secrets on your windshield.

He got his start in splatology while on a road trip a decade ago.

"I was at a gas station and this guy in a pickup truck that was covered in dead bugs turned to me and said, 'What the blankety blank is all this?' " Hostetler said. "He asked the right person."

An entomologist, Hostetler determined the type of bugs stuck to the truck's grill: lovebugs. He also discovered a new way to get people interested in insects -- his passion.

"They provide a service beyond just appearing on your windshield," Hostetler said. "They pollinate fruit and vegetables, for instance."

So he took a long road trip to study bugs and their impact on society, among other things. He stopped at 10 Greyhound bus depots and studied the grills and windows of more than 50 buses.

"They're so big and flat that they get a lot of bugs," he said. "The night buses get hit a lot."

He also strapped a net to the roof of his car. After seeing a large splat, he would inspect the net to see what bounced off his windshield. This is what he discovered:

Red splats are typically mosquitoes. Only female mosquitoes eat blood, so a red stain on your windshield offers an important clue.

Yellow or creamy spots that slide upward are typically butterflies or moths. Look for fluttering scales or powder, he said.

Lovebugs love exhaust pipes, which smell like perfect places to lay eggs.

The smallest splats are usually biting midges, or "no-see-ums."

"Glowing" splats are fireflies.

Tremendously loud splats are usually cockroaches.

"They have the hardest shells," Hostetler said. "So they make the most noise."

While not an exact science, the study of bugs and windshields is done throughout the country by anyone who's ever been on a road trip or washed a car afterward.

"The summer is obviously very busy for us," said Berges Kerawalla, manager of Autopia car wash in Walnut Creek, Calif.

"We can definitely tell the butterflies -- they stand out like a sore thumb," Kerawalla said. "It's really kind of sad to see a butterfly splattered all over because they're so beautiful, but we'll start to see them more and more in the latter part of summer."

Spotting and identifying bugs is one thing. Cleaning them off your windshield is another matter.

Hostetler has teamed with Prestone, which offers a wiper fluid called "Bug Wash," to promote his book and the study of insects.

"The whole purpose is to introduce the world to bugs," he said.

A messy introduction, sure. But an introduction, nonetheless.