Seoul deploys water-spraying drones to combat love bug surge

With another mass outbreak of love bugs expected this summer, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is deploying eco-friendly water-spraying drones for emergency response. The insects are highly vulnerable to water.

Love bugs do not bite or transmit disease, but they swarm in large numbers over short periods, causing significant inconvenience to residents. Sightings have been spreading across social media and online communities in recent weeks.

The city has stepped up daily monitoring ahead of what it predicts will be the peak outbreak period from mid-June through early July. Love bug-related complaints filed with the city numbered 4,418 in 2022, 5,600 in 2023, 9,296 in 2024, 5,282 in 2025, and 1,515 so far this year.

Seoul analyzed larval habitat survey data collected in April alongside complaint records from 2023 to 2025 to identify areas at high risk of mass outbreaks. The city has since partnered with the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy and the industry-academic cooperation foundation of Sahmyook University to carry out a pilot program testing and verifying eco-friendly pest control methods.

Taking into account the love bug's ecological role in decomposing fallen leaves and organic matter, the city has decided to prioritize eco-friendly control methods over pesticide spraying. The focus is on reducing population numbers to minimize public inconvenience rather than pursuing total eradication.

As part of that effort, the city will for the first time deploy eco-friendly water-spraying drones for on-site response this year. Gwanak-gu has already mobilized water trucks since June 22 to spray water in areas where complaints have been concentrated.

Meanwhile, in May the city ran a pilot larval control program using an eco-friendly microbial agent, BTI, to suppress love bug larvae before they could hatch. This year's operation covered four sites in Eunpyeong-gu and Nowon-gu, totaling 31,500 square meters, scaled up to get ahead of a potential mass outbreak.

Based on complaint trends and on-site conditions observed so far, the city believes the program has had a meaningful effect in preventing a mass outbreak and plans to continue analyzing its effectiveness before deciding whether to expand it.

In addition, the number of pheromone traps has been sharply expanded from the originally planned 1,300 units to 4,895, now installed and operating across all 25 autonomous districts. The traps use phenylacetaldehyde — a compound that emits scents resembling rose, honey and chocolate — to lure and capture love bugs.

A high-altitude mass insect trap that uses light to capture bugs is operating on Bullamsan in Nowon-gu, where it also monitors love bug population density and outbreak patterns.

Alongside this, the city is promoting lifestyle tips residents can follow at home: minimizing outdoor lighting at night, checking door gaps and window screens, washing cars promptly before dead insects accumulate, and wearing dark-colored clothing.

Through this pilot program, Seoul plans to assess the effectiveness and field applicability of its control measures, accumulate relevant data, and use the findings to improve the accuracy of future outbreak predictions.

"The goal of our love bug response is not eradication but minimizing inconvenience to residents," said Jo Yeong-chang, director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Public Health Bureau. "We will refine our management system — from outbreak prediction and larval control to on-site response — to build an effective and sustainable Seoul-style pest control model."