Egyptian Plagues Hit Avoyelles with Unholy Trinity of Roaches, Skeeters & Lovebugs

When Moses faced Pharaoh asking for the Hebrews' freedom, he threw at the obstinate ruler 10 plagues. If Moses had roaches, mosquitoes, and love bugs to fling at the hard-headed man, the Hebrews would have been free a lot sooner.

What the people of the Old Testament missed, here in Avoyelles, we did not. We get to labor with our own special scourge.

Wondering how others felt about the unholy trinity of love bugs, roaches, and mosquitoes, I asked a few people which they considered the worst of insectdom’s version of the Three Stooges.

Because he was right there, I asked my husband, Joseph, what he thought was the worst and without much thought he said mosquitoes

"because you can spray for roaches and love bugs are temporary."

Marie Lonzo of Marksville said,

"love bugs, they’re aggravating!"

Charlotte Dubroc of Fifth Ward and Sue Dauzat of Hessmer were thinking along the same line when they pointed out the mosquito carries the West Nile Virus. Sue added that mosquitoes don’t make summer nights enjoyable.

"I totally detest roaches," Joanne Michiels of Centerpoint said,

"especially the ‘18 wheeler’ kind that waltzed into our hotel room the first night we spent in Louisiana. It struck terror in the heart of us kids."

Joanne’s family had just moved from California.

Love bugs have been around since, or maybe first discovered, in 1911. Roaches, on the other hand, are an ancient group, dating back at least as far as the Carboniferous period, some 320 million years ago.

They are popularly depicted as dirty pests, though the great majority of species are inoffensive and live in a wide range of habitats around the world.

Unfortunately, the people I spoke to do not and will never agree that a roach is nothing but, well, Yuk!

Gail from Cottonport said,

"You can use mosquito repellent and love bugs are temporary. Those others (roaches) just come at you at times and places you’re least prepared to see one and they are just awful!"

Carolyn Bordelon of Marksville agreed.

"Cockroaches are the worst," she said, punctuating her remark with an “Uck.”

Willie Barton of Marksville commented that mosquitoes can be sprayed but

"there’s nothing to kill a love bug. They can eventually cause a problem if they get in the car radiator."

Scott Coco of Marksville remarked that he had never heard of anyone dying from a lovebug bite.

"Here in the south mosquitoes plaque us about nine months. Mosquitoes can make a camping trip miserable unless you douse yourself with Off but don’t expect anyone to ask you to snuggle."

Pam Mitchel, Marksville, pretty much said what a lot of people think,

"The three are equally gross to me. The only consolation is that lovebugs and mosquitoes are seasonal."

Jimmie Bordelon began with a blanket statement,

"it depends on what I’m trying to do."

Jimmie has been trying to paint a piece of plywood,

"but you know lovebugs, especially when you’re trying to paint outdoors, they’re like suicide bombers."

His statement brought up a good point, how can house painters work when lovebugs are stupid enough to fly into the wet paint?

Gerald Lemoine said his worst of the three was the lovebug.

"You can’t get them off your car and they’re all over the place."

Mac Dauzat, Marksville, said he can get rid of roaches and lovebugs don’t last long

"but a mosquito carrying a disease can kill you."

Louisiana’s history is closely tied to the mosquito because they plagued New Orleanians since the first colonists arrived in the 18th century. In addition to biting ankles and leaving behind itchy welts, mosquitoes spread diseases like Yellow Fever. It wasn’t until 1905 that scientists discovered the link between the mosquito and Yellow Fever.

Chester Coco agreed that mosquitoes were the worst.

"Absolutely," he said, "we have them year round."

Voting with the mosquito crowd were Tim Leonard and Jamie Dauzat, both of Marksville.

"Because they bite," was their response.

Renee Couvillion observed that since the love bugs usually come in twos,

"they seem more numerous and they smell horrible once they’re smashed."

No one I spoke to could find one nice thing to say about mosquitoes, love bugs, or roaches.

Faye Coco voted unequivocally that mosquitoes were the worst

"because if I were the last person on earth, the last mosquito would find me."

It looks like, according to my small survey, that mosquitoes are the worst, although the lovebug and roach could also be in the “despicable” hall of fame.

Then the thought occurred to me, what about carpenter bees, gnats, and Asian lady bugs? Have the Egyptian plagues really fallen upon us. Remember, we also live close to the RED River. Holy Moses!