[Anchor]

Lovebugs are appearing again these days. However, it is said that the situation seems a bit better this year.

Reporter Jang Seon-i has the story.

[Reporter]

I visited Baengnyeonsan Mountain in Seoul, where lovebugs appeared in large numbers last year.

The number of captured lovebugs has actually decreased compared to a week ago.

The situation is not much different in Yongwangsan Mountain and Suraksan Mountain in Seoul, where complaints about their appearance have been concentrated this year.

[Park Seon-jae / Researcher at the National Institute of Biological Resources: Compared to last week, it has clearly decreased... if we compare this area.]

[Lee Geon-sik / Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do: They have decreased significantly. They are gone. If you walk around, you might see one or two? You don't see them. I guess it's because of the pest control efforts.]

With the amendment of the Wildlife Protection and Management Act this year, a legal basis for controlling insects that appear in massive numbers was established. Analysis suggests that the efforts to control lovebug larvae have been effective.

Lovebugs mature faster as temperatures rise.

Due to the early onset of hot weather, their emergence began earlier this year than in previous years.

Some observers suggest that the peak of their mass emergence may have already passed in urban areas.

[Park Seon-jae / Researcher at the National Institute of Biological Resources: In urban areas, the number of individuals is expected to show a downward trend starting this week.]

However, it is too early to conclude that the mass emergence has passed in forest areas, where temperatures are relatively lower than in city centers.

There have been cases in previous years where lovebugs suddenly swarmed in late June, and experts believe that the population could still increase in forest areas until next week.

The "Lovebug Map" website, where citizens directly report locations where lovebugs have appeared, has received nearly 9,000 reports just this week.

The results on how effective the larval control efforts were are expected to be available by the end of next month.

(Video reporting: Kang Si-woo | Video editing: Jo Mu-hwan)