To create comfortable conditions for green pets, adherents of home floriculture are ready to go to great lengths: buy expensive fertilizers, special ones, regularly turn the pots around their axis and let water sit for days for irrigation. But even the most careful care does not always guarantee protection against the appearance of midges in indoor flowers.
Traditionally, the appearance of foreign animals in flower pots is recorded during the off-season, when flower growers do not have time to readjust and switch to a new regime of watering their pets. As a result, the soil becomes waterlogged, thereby creating ideal conditions for the reproduction of various midges. It should be noted that in most cases insects interfere with the life of not only the plants themselves, but also their owners, spoiling appearance homes and getting into cups and plates.
So, a problem has been discovered - midges have infested indoor flowers, what to do and how to get rid of them? uninvited guests? The fight against them will require a systematic approach, perseverance and an integrated approach from the grower, because even treating the above-ground part of the plant cannot guarantee that no pest larvae remain in the soil. The main preventive measure against midges in indoor flowers is strict adherence to the drinking regime of plants and avoiding stagnation of water in pots.
Outwardly resembling a moth, but many times smaller, small white midges on indoor flowers are nothing more than. Adults lay eggs on the succulent leaves of domestic plants so that the larvae that hatch from them can feast on the nutritious cell sap without interference. As a result, discolored spots appear on the leaves, the leaves dry out and fall off. Large colonies of whiteflies can devastate an entire home greenhouse in a short time.
Similar to fruit flies, small black midges in indoor flowers are called fungus gnats. Their appearance in an apartment is a sure sign that a source of dampness has formed somewhere. Adult sciarids do not harm plants, but their larvae pose a serious threat to flooded and rotting roots. Infection of plants with sciarids can occur either by air or through poorly treated soil.
It also happens that flower pots become habitats for fruit flies or fruit flies. This is the most harmless type of midge that does not harm either plants or people, causing the latter only psychological discomfort. If in indoor flower started, it is necessary to deprive them of all possible sources of food (rotting vegetables, fruits, tea leaves, coffee, etc.), and then destroy all adult individuals using traps or a regular vacuum cleaner.
Ground flies in indoor flowers are called springtails or springtails. Their body length ranges from 0.2 to 1 mm, and any energizer would envy their activity - most of the day they busily jump from leaf to leaf, scurry along the surface of the soil, populating it with their larvae. If you look closely on the surface of the soil in a pot, you will notice clusters of these small insects.
Adult healthy plants are not afraid of soil midges in indoor flowers. They even play an important role, participating in the process of decomposition of organic matter and saturating the soil with oxygen. Pord larvae living in flower pots, carrying pathogenic fungi and eating up rotten roots, are dangerous only for flooded or diseased flowers.
The gardener must understand that if midges appear in indoor flowers, and especially flying midges, there is a high probability that the attack will soon spread throughout the home flower garden. And although adults do not chew leaves or drink plant sap, they lay eggs, from which very voracious larvae hatch. Having noticed midges hovering around a green pet, it is necessary to take comprehensive measures: remove excess moisture, treat with insecticides and replant in uninfected soil.
Let's take a closer look at how to remove midges from indoor flowers:
An excellent option for treating indoor flowers against midges is ammonia, available in any medicine cabinet. Dissolve 50 grams of ammonia in 4 liters of water and get an excellent 2-in-1 remedy - a midge repeller for indoor flowers and nitrogen fertilizer. It can be used to treat the aerial parts of flowers from a spray bottle and destroy adult individuals, as well as for root feeding and the simultaneous destruction of pest larvae and eggs. Spraying can be repeated at intervals of 7-10 days until a sustainable effect is achieved.
Another remedy that helps not only get rid of unpleasant flying tenants, but also significantly strengthen green pets is potassium permanganate. To prevent the product from harming the delicate root system of plants, potassium permanganate is used against midges in flowers, the solution of which has a soft pink color. This concentration is sufficient to slow down putrefactive processes and leave pests without food. To achieve the effect, water the plant with it at least twice, each time allowing the soil in the pot to dry thoroughly.
Regular vinegar will help to permanently ward off midges that have bred in indoor flowers from your home. Dilute 1 teaspoon of table or apple cider vinegar in 1 liter of clean, settled water and get an effective remedy for poisoning midges in flowers. In addition to insecticidal, vinegar solution there is another beneficial effect - plant leaves after such treatment acquire a healthy shine and gloss. The vinegar solution can be used for protective spraying or as a preventative wipe on the leaves of indoor flowers.
An effective and inexpensive remedy against midges in flowers is tobacco. Its pungent odor repels insects and prevents them from laying eggs. There are two ways to use tobacco. In the first case, the soil in the pot is carefully loosened, and then a layer of tobacco is laid on its surface. In the second, an infusion is prepared from it by pouring 40 grams of raw material with 1 liter of boiling water and, after cooling, watering the soil in the affected pots. This product has a strong odor, so it is not suitable for all gardeners.
As you know, midges in indoor flowers feed on rotting organic matter. Ordinary cinnamon will help to leave them without food, slowing down the putrefactive processes. Like tobacco, it can be used to sprinkle the surface of the soil and as a solution. If you are looking for something to water indoor flowers against midges, and at the same time significantly improve the overall atmosphere in your home, then there is nothing better than cinnamon, which has a pleasant aroma and stimulating effect.
In the case when none home remedy does not allow you to achieve the desired result and despite all the watering, traps and spraying, the midges in indoor flowers do not go away, the time has come to use the “heavy artillery” - purchased insecticides. A toxic greenhouse will help disinfect flowers with maximum effect and minimal harm to everyone living in the house. Processing must be carried out in the following sequence:
When you first see small flying midges around your indoor plants and white specks in the ground, you think: “What a little thing, they’ll fly and die.” But don't be fooled. Everything is much worse! Your plants are already affected and will soon begin to wither. And before you see it, the larvae inside the pot are already gobbling up everything. root system your favorite flowers. Will you have time to save them?
Midges do not appear near a person just like that; they are attracted by moisture. In this material, we will understand the reasons for the appearance of midges and fungus gnats in the house and on the site, we will tell you what signs indicate that plants are infected, how to eliminate all stages of these midges in just 5 steps and make sure that they do not appear in your flowers.
Can they be dangerous to humans? What can fungus gnats be confused with? Will sticky traps help kill these insects? Find out all the answers below!
Midges and fungus gnats are tiny brownish midges, up to 6 mm in size, members of the families Bolitophilidae, Diadocidiidae, Ditomyiidae, Keroplatidae, and Mycetophilidae in the order Diptera. They love dampness, mainly live in damp, dark forests and feed on mushrooms, which is how they got their name. Those that you encounter at home are often also called winter midges - after all, they can often be found at home in winter too. It would seem that in winter the life of almost all flying insects freezes, but this is not the case: fungus gnats can withstand frosts down to -30 degrees C! What can we say about your warm home?
In the wild, the larvae of these midges eat the roots of mushrooms and other plants, as well as rotting wood and other organic matter. Thus, they play an important role as orderlies: without their participation, the process of decomposition of organic matter and the formation of humus in the forest would be much slower. That's it for them useful features are ending.
Here's where midges and fungus gnats are most likely to live in and around your home:
They are also attracted to light - turn off the street “lighthouse lights”, otherwise this “ship” will not keep you waiting!
So, let's start inspecting your flowers and soil. The very first sign of these insects is, of course, flying flies around potted plants. Less obvious symptoms include:
If your flower has midges, what should you do? The first rule is don't panic. The chances of saving your favorite orchid or violet are great. But the fight for salvation must begin immediately.
Fact #1: Midges do not bite or drink blood, which is confirmed by American experts. In addition, unlike other gnats, they do not swarm near the face, do not itch above the ear and do not get into the eyes - in a word, you, dear reader, are not the least bit interesting to them. And this is the only one good news. Further - worse.
Fact #2: Fungus gnats and midges are carriers of fungal diseases that are dangerous not only for plants, but also for humans. In people who have close contact with infected plants and inhale mold spores, they can cause respiratory problems.
Fact #3: Midges feed on the juices of the root system of plants. Larvae are especially dangerous! According to scientists, at the moment fungus gnat larvae are the most dangerous pest in greenhouses. They are the ones who suck out all the juices from the young root systems of plants. Adult midges damage plants less, but females lay eggs, which will later become larvae and will also destroy the root system of flowers if the soil remains waterlogged.
Fact #4: The larvae are especially dangerous for young plants, seedlings and cuttings. Potted plants such as:
as well as all plants with a shallow root system. The roots of such plants do not go deep into the ground, so if you overwater them, water stagnation will occur in the upper part of the soil. These are simply ideal conditions for fungus gnats to breed!
Fact #5: Plants that are properly cared for and watered do not attract fungus gnats! But those that were purchased sick or that are constantly flooded with water (especially in winter) begin to rot... Too wet soil and rot of the root system of plants is the most favorable environment for these midges. That is why they are so often found, for example, in greenhouses - it is warm and humid there.
Helpful advice: When you buy seedlings or a plant in a pot, carefully inspect the top layer of soil! If you see white larvae or eggs, if the plant looks lethargic, do not buy it!
“You never know who can fly over a flower pot!”- you say. It's true: sometimes it is difficult to understand what kind of insect you are dealing with at home, especially when it is not clear where it came from or if there are flowers in the kitchen. How to understand that these are fungus gnats and not other insects? To help you, here is a small comparison table:
| Fungus gnat | fruit fly | |
| Appearance | A small mosquito-like insect with long antennae | yellowish-brown small fly |
| Localization - reproduction | potted flowers, greenhouses | rotting fruits and vegetables, sweets, alcohol (kitchen) |
| Activity period | there may be indoors all year round, outdoors - mainly in winter and in early spring | summer and early autumn |
| Do they bite? | No | No |
As you can see, it is not so difficult to distinguish between these different small flyers; the main thing is to take a close look at the insect and find the source of its appearance - be it fruit in the kitchen or a flower pot.
So, you've noticed little midges flying around your indoor plants at home. What's next? Here are five simple steps How to get rid of midges in flower pots.
As we said above, these are usually plants growing in overwatered soil - in pots, a flower bed or a greenhouse. But midges can also live in overly mulched soil, which retains moisture for a long time after rain. They are not very active fliers, so they usually live near water. Found the source? If it is rotting organic waste, dispose of it; in the case of soil, shake it up - you should see white larvae.
The larvae are much more dangerous than adult midges - therefore the main step is to get rid of the larvae, and not the adults.
To treat soil or other moist breeding ground, it is not necessary to look for special insecticides; you can get by with already proven organic mosquito control agents. Entomologists recommend using B.t.i. to eliminate larvae. - special live bacteria that kill insect larvae before they become adults.
This affordable (~$20) and safe product has proven itself to be a successful product for killing mosquito larvae, and judging by happy reviews, it is also effective against midges and fungus gnats. To treat soil in a pot, first lower the “donut” into a watering can so that the product dissolves in water, and then pour the resulting solution onto the soil. If the infection occurs in an outdoor area, break it into pieces and sprinkle it on waterlogged soil or also dissolve it in water and spill it. Following the instructions, repeat the procedure as necessary (until new larvae stop appearing) - usually the problem is solved within 2-3 weeks.
At the same time as eliminating moisture and fighting larvae, we kill adult females so that they do not lay new eggs. Sticky traps are great for this and can then be left in the ground for ongoing monitoring. They are not much different from each other: an adhesive base, a bright yellow color and the same principle: midges stick and die, bypassing the stage of laying eggs. You can use the following products (or similar):
For a small infection: Safer Brand 5025 Houseplant Sticky Stakes Insect Trap (7 traps) (~$6)
For a large infestation: Hafer 30-Pack (15ea.5"*3"yellow Dual sticky trap and 15pcs wire tie) set (~$7)
When you have finally gotten rid of fungus gnats, the most important thing is to draw conclusions from the situation and prevent it from happening reappearance, i.e. do not overwater the soil! Make a watering schedule and take into account important nuances:
Midges and fungus gnats are a time bomb; they can cause great damage to your indoor flowers. The main tactic in the fight against them is not to overwater the plants! It is in your hands to prevent the formation of overflooded areas and mold and promptly remove organic debris to avoid rotting. In short, now you know what to do to prevent these pests from appearing. Water your flowers without fanaticism, friends!
And don't forget About greenhouses, midges can cause irreparable damage to your future harvest, especially young seedlings.
Midges are arthropod insects that belong to the order Diptera, suborder Long-whiskered, family midges (lat. Simuliidae).
The body length of midges varies from 1.2 to 6 mm. The smallest species live in the tropics, the largest are common in the northern temperate and subpolar latitudes.
There are 3 main sections in the structure of midges: head, chest and abdomen. The rounded head of females has a wide forehead; in males it is narrower. The antennae of midges consist of 11 (sometimes 9 or 10) segments; they are very thin, rope-like and covered with short hairs. The color of the antennae varies from dark yellow and brownish to dark gray and black. The antennae of females are thicker and shorter than those of males, and also have a slight flattening and taper towards the end.
The eyes of the midge are faceted, in males they usually touch along the frontal seam, in females they are separated by the forehead. Horizontally, the eyes of males are divided into a larger one top part, where the large facets are located, and the smaller lower part, where the small facets are located. In females, all facets are the same size, and their number exceeds the number of facets in males. Additional simple eyes are not developed in midges.
The chest of insects is strongly convex. Hairs grow on the back, and there may also be various spots of dark or silver color. The color and shape of the spots vary among different species of midges.
The abdomen of midges is oval-shaped, slightly pointed towards the end and consists of 11 segments. The dorsal part of the first segment protrudes upward and backward, forming a kind of collar covered with a brush of long hairs.
Midges have well-developed halteres, which are club-shaped. The halteres are paired appendages of the thoracic segments of insects; in midges they are located on the metathorax and are modified wings. During flight, they help the insect maintain balance, vibrate and make a characteristic sound. That's why insects buzz. Stalk of haltere in midges middle length, at the end of the club there is a slight impression. The color of the halteres varies from white-yellow, yellowish and ocher to brown and black. The club is usually lighter than the stalk. In addition, males have darker and brighter halteres than females.
The wings of midges are wide, round-oval, transparent, with longitudinal venation, length from 1.4 to 6 mm. The surface of the wings is covered with small tubercles. When at rest, the wings fold horizontally, covering one another.
The oral appendages of midges consist of palps and a complex proboscis of the piercing-sucking type. The proboscis is short and thick, it consists of an upper lip and epipharynx, hypopharynx, 2 mandibles (upper jaws), 2 maxillae (lower jaws) and a lower lip. The upper lip, mandibles and maxillae of blood-sucking females have teeth of the tearing-cutting type. In males and females that do not drink blood (for example, Prosimulium alpestre), the teeth are replaced by hairs. The maxillary palps consist of 4-5 segments, on the third segment a special sensitive organ is developed that performs sensory functions. The palps are used by midges to orient themselves on the body of a person or animal when choosing a place for an injection. The upper lip also has the same functions, but first of all it serves to pierce the skin of the victim. After the bite, the wound is sawed off at the ends of the mandibles, which move from top to bottom. Maxillae, when immersed in the wound, tear tissue and walls blood vessels victims. Next, the midge immerses the upper lip, epipharynx and hypopharynx into the wound and drinks blood. In the hypopharynx there is a channel through which saliva enters the wound, preventing blood clotting. The lower lip has a sensitive function and is used for licking. Like other bloodsuckers, midges pass water and liquid carbohydrate food through the esophagus into the crop, and blood flows directly into the midgut.
Midges have 3 pairs of fairly powerful limbs, each consisting of a coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia and a five-segmented tarsus. The paws of midges are equipped with claws: in males, at their base there is a wide cup-shaped tooth, in females the claws can be simple (short or long) or also have a tooth (large or small). Most often, the limbs of midges are black, although in some varieties individual segments of the legs may be yellowish or brown in color or covered with silvery spots. The coloring, pubescence and shape of the limbs depend on the type of midge.
The lifespan of a midge depends on the species, weather conditions and nutrition. Herbivorous species live very short lives - only a few days (less than a week). The average lifespan of blood-sucking species is 3-4 weeks, although some females of certain species can live up to 3 months.
Midges live on almost all continents, with the exception of Antarctica and the Sahara Desert. These small insects live in North and South America, Australia, Mediterranean countries, Russia, Central and Central Asia, in Japan, Indochina, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan and Taiwan, on Far East and the Caucasus, the Baltic states and North Africa.
Particularly many midges are found in taiga regions, in deciduous forests with high humidity, and also near water bodies. Availability of water nearby necessary condition habitat of midges, because three of the four life stages of development (egg, larva, pupa) of these insects take place in water bodies or in the immediate vicinity of them. Only adult imagoes live on land.
The nutrition of these insects depends on gender. The females of most species of midges are a large component of midges (in addition to mosquitoes and midges) and prefer to drink blood, attacking people, animals or birds. With their painful bites, they cause a lot of unpleasant sensations in the form of itching, local redness, swelling of the skin and even serious allergic reactions. Cows, horses, sheep, goats, roe deer, deer, buffalo, ducks, chickens, turkeys, and geese become victims of annoying midges. But dogs and cats practically do not suffer from midge bites.
Male midges are avid vegetarians and feed exclusively on nectar and plant juices. Among midges there are also completely non-blood-sucking species.
Today, approximately 1,800 species of midges are known. Below is a description of several varieties.
The length of the insect is from 3 to 4.5 mm. A silver-colored border is visible on the back. The coloring of the legs, antennae and abdomen depends on the subspecies. The body length of the larva is 6-11 mm (depending on the subspecies), the size of the pupa is 3-5 mm. Different subspecies of the ornate midge live throughout the Palearctic, north to Greenland, Novaya Zemlya and the outskirts of Europe and Asia, south to the Mediterranean and southern India, and is also found in North America.
Presented in several varieties. The length of the midge reaches 2.5-4 mm. The back and abdomen are covered with silvery-golden hairs; males have silver spots on the shoulder fields. The body length of the larvae is 5-7 mm. In its posterior sucker there are 80-100 rows of hooks with 17-24 hooks in each row. The length of the pupa varies from 2.6 to 4 mm depending on the subspecies of the midge; the cocoon has a shoe-shaped shape. The habitat of the horse midge extends from the Kola Peninsula and Karelia to Kamchatka. The southern boundaries of the range have not been determined. Larvae and pupae are distributed in different rivers along the course and can live even in heavily polluted water bodies. Preference is given to bodies of water with vegetation. Females are bloodsuckers and attack people and animals. In horses, accumulations of midges can be seen in the ears. During the year, one (in the northern regions) or several (in the south) generations of horse midges develop.
The body length of the midge is 3-3.5 mm. A pattern in the form of silver stripes is noticeable on the back of males. Females have a yellow color on their legs. The size of the larva is 6-7 mm, its color is whitish-yellow. The length of the pupa is 3-4 mm, the cocoon is simple, opaque. This type of midge lives in the European part of Russia and countries of Eastern Europe. Midges develop in rivers and channels of large rivers that are silted and overgrown with vegetation.
Taken from: science.mnhn.fr, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
The length of males is from 2.5 to 3 mm. The tentacles are short and thin. The back is velvety black, has a silvery tint on the sides and back, and is covered with sparse golden hairs. The abdomen is brownish-black on top, with dark hairs. The legs are black, the halteres are brown, darker at the base.
Female tundra midges are about 3 mm long and have black-brown tentacles and antennae. The forehead and crown are grayish, covered in dense hairs. There are no silvery spots on the back of females; the back itself is black and gray, covered with silvery hairs. The halteres are light yellow. The front veins of the wings are white and yellow. The legs of the female midge are brown-black. The claw is small, with a thickening at the base. The abdomen is black above, dark yellow below, covered with sparse hairs.
The dimensions of the larva are 4.5-6 mm, its color is yellow-white, the dorsal side has transverse brown stripes. In the posterior sucker of the larva there are 70-72 rows of hooks, 11-13 hooks in each row. The length of the light yellow pupa is from 2.5 to 3 mm, the cocoon is simple, with loose weaving, without windows on the sides. Tundra midges are common in the northern regions, from the Kola Peninsula to the Yenisei River basin. Mass pupation occurs in June-July. The flight of adult individuals is observed from July to the first half of September. The tundra midge is a vicious bloodsucker that attacks people and animals.
The length of the adult is approximately 3 mm. The body is black, but there are silver spots on the back. The length of the larva is from 5.5 to 6 mm, the pupa is from 2.8 to 3.6 mm. This species of midges lives en masse from Karelia and the Arkhangelsk region up to the Moscow region and the territory of Transbaikalia. The habitat depends on the subspecies.
Taken from: www.boldsystems.org
The length of an adult insect is from 3.5 to 3.8 mm. Narrow silvery spots are visible on the back of males; these spots are dark on females. The antennae and palps are black, although in females the antennae may have a brownish tint. The limbs of males are mostly black, although there is a silver spot on the middle tibia, and the hind tibia has a yellowish tint. The legs of females are brownish-black, with silvery spots on the outer side of the fore and middle tibia, and also with a light yellowish tint at the base of the hind tibia. The halteres of females are yellowish-white. The length of the larva is from 7 to 8.5 mm, the size of the pupa is approximately 4 mm. The cocoon is simple, with an edging along the front edge. Silver midges live in Russia, North America and Western Europe. They inhabit small, overgrown, silted rivers in the forest zone, and in the tundra in the north. Adults are found from early June to September, depending on latitude. Silver midges are vicious bloodsuckers that attack people in the taiga and tundra zones.
The length of the midge is about 4 mm. The antennae of males are black, the limbs are also black with a lighter shade at the junction of the femur with the tibia, as well as on the first segment of the hind tarsus. The antennae of females are light yellow at the base. The female mandibles are evenly sloping and serrated on both sides. A bright silver pattern is visible on the back. The limbs of females are brown-black, with a lighter shade in some places. The size of the light-fronted midge larva varies from 7 to 9 mm, its color can be red or gray-yellow. The large fan of the larva contains 47-57 setae. The rear sucker has 68-80 rows of hooks with 10-15 hooks in each row. The length of the pupa is 4 mm, the cocoon has loose weaving, with numerous holes on the sides and top. Light-fronted midges live over a vast territory that extends from the countries of northeastern Europe east through Russia to Transbaikalia. In the south, the range reaches the middle of the European part of Russia.
Taken from: www.biodiversity.ubc.ca
The life cycle of midges consists of 4 phases:
After fertilization by a male, the female simply needs blood for normal growth and maturation of eggs. With sufficient nutrition and favorable weather conditions, the eggs will fully ripen within 5-7 days; otherwise, the laying process may be delayed for up to three weeks. The female midge lays eggs in one layer in rows or piles of 50-100 pieces each, gluing the eggs together special secret. Sometimes several females of the same or even different species lay eggs in one place. Midge eggs are laid on a constantly wet substrate next to a body of water, on stones, snags or vegetation protruding above the surface or completely submerged in water. The development of eggs, and then larvae and pupa, occurs in running water.
Midge eggs can have a rounded-triangular or rounded-rectangular shape, resembling an oval. The egg shell is very thin, sometimes translucent, and absolutely smooth. The length of the eggs varies from 0.15 to 0.4 mm. The color of the newly laid clutch is light ocher, then the eggs begin to darken, and their color becomes dark brown.
Taken from: www.researchgate.net
The midge larva is worm-shaped and consists of 11 segments. The color of the larva is light yellow or ocher, interspersed with greenish, brown or brown spots. The thoracic region of the body is noticeably thickened and equipped with a kind of “leg” for movement. The posterior end of the body has a strong swelling and a special organ (the so-called sucker) with numerous hooks, with the help of which the larva fixes its position. The ventral part of the body is often flattened.
The head of the larva is large, separated from the body by a clear bridge, and is most often darker in color than the body, often black. The larva has developed long antennae on its head, oral apparatus with a pair of powerful mandibles, as well as special chitinous formations - fans, which help the larva filter food consisting of plankton and algae. In addition, the larvae have well-developed arachnoid glands that secrete a secretion with which they can move. But basically their lifestyle is semi-sedentary.
The midge pupa is completely, and sometimes only partially, covered with a cocoon, which has a round exit hole - through which the breathing process occurs, carried out with the help of respiratory threads. The cocoon is woven from spider threads secreted by the larva, and can be different shapes: hut-shaped, shoe-shaped, shoe-shaped or goblet-shaped. The body of the pupa is sometimes covered with hairs, short bristles, various growths resembling plaques, tubercles, tiny cones, spines or cylinders.
During its development, the midge pupa does not move or feed: it only cares about a comfortable water temperature and oxygen flow. After one to two weeks, an adult is born.
Depending on the species and temperature conditions in the reservoir, the rate of development of midges varies significantly. The overwhelming number of midges wait out the cold season in the egg stage. This method of wintering is especially typical for species living in latitudes with harsh climates where water bodies freeze. Very rarely do midges survive winter months in the larval phase, and this is most likely an exception to the rule.
In places with a warm climate, where water bodies are not covered with a layer of ice, midges overwinter in the larval stage, although their development may slow down during this period. Over the course of a year, different species of midges can develop from 1 to 3 generations.
Often in a flower pot or in a greenhouse you can notice very small insects that flutter above the surface of the ground or cling to the leaves of plants. This is the so-called popular flower midge. Surprisingly, these insects do not belong to the midge family at all:
Photo top left: John Tann, CC BY 2.0. Photo top right: Melissa McMasters, CC BY 2.0
In addition to the fact that midge bites are accompanied by pain, swelling, severe redness and unbearable itching of the skin, and increased body temperature, midges also carry numerous diseases. Among them, the most dangerous are onchocerciasis, myxomatosis, anthrax, tularemia, plague and others. A midge bite is really dangerous, especially for allergy sufferers, because insect saliva contains substances belonging to the group of strong hemolytic poisons. Massive midge attacks on grazing herds of farm animals can sometimes cause livestock deaths. All these factors force a person to fight against midges, although it is still 100% effective remedy never created.
Taken from: www.someoneelseskitchen.com
To reduce midge populations in their natural habitat, streams and swamps are drained, forests are carefully cleared, and banks along water bodies are cleared. To protect livestock from midge bites, livestock complexes or summer grazing pens are located away from wetlands and low-lying areas. During periods of excessively high activity of midge flights, it is advisable to keep animals indoors by installing mosquito nets on windows and doors. The walls of the room can be treated with insecticidal preparations such as Bytex, Actellik, Metathion, Difos. Ear tags for animals impregnated with Alletethrin, Resmethrin and similar drugs have a good effect.
To protect themselves from midge bites, people have to look for more and more new solutions. It is quite possible to protect yourself from the attacks of these annoying, annoying, and sometimes dangerous blood-sucking insects, if you take into account some nuances:
In order to protect yourself from attacking midges, you should use protective measures such as repellents or fumigants.
Before using these products, be sure to test for allergic reactions: apply a minimal amount of the drug to your wrist and observe whether the skin in this area turns red or begins to itch.
Fumigators against midges are divided into pyrotechnic and electric. In the first, a spiral smolders and smokes, impregnated with substances toxic to midges. Fumigators of the second type work by heating an element on which a plate impregnated with a substance poisonous to midges is placed. Another option for a fumigator is an element that connects to an outlet, to which a bottle of toxic liquid is attached. Among the most current fumigators are devices from the brands Raid, Mosquitall, Fumitox.
But the answer to this question lies on the surface. And you just have to think a little and use your imagination, and it will immediately become clear where the midges on fruit come from. But we will not look for simple ways, but will approach the issue responsibly, revealing along the way all the secrets of the enemy insect invasion. To begin with, let us remind our readers of the picture of what is happening in the apartment in the event of infection.
To examine in detail the enemy of fruits and vegetables in the apartment, you need to present a complete portrait of the enemy, starting with who he is and how he behaves.
First, let's figure out who is the very midge that is trying to spoil our fruits and vegetables. It turns out that this is the famous Drosophila fly, which was the first insect to travel into space.
Reference! Drosophila did not go to space of its own free will. Our cosmonauts conducted experiments on it.
It is also called a fruit fly or wine fly because it appears precisely on fruits or vegetables that are beginning to spoil or ferment.
Midges usually appear at the moment when vegetables or fruits begin to deteriorate, when the process of rotting plant tissue begins. Then a dangerous enemy crawls out of all the cracks and begins to settle on the spoiled product.
Drosophila breed en masse in the following places:
But there are cases when the house is in absolute order in terms of sanitation, but still midges appear on your favorite orange. How did Drosophila find out that the fruit in our house was starting to spoil, who told her about it?
It turns out that everything becomes clearer if we consider the process of wine fly reproduction. The fact is that after mating, Drosophila lays eggs on the surface of fruits or vegetables. And then nature starts the waiting mechanism.
Let's say that we bought good, fresh and strong fruits from the store or brought them from the garden. But wine fly eggs are so small that we simply cannot see them with the naked eye. And so our apple lies on the table until it begins to spoil. This triggers the mechanism for further reproduction of the insect. The egg begins to develop under the influence of putrefactive processes, and soon you will notice these same midges on the apple.
And after them, other individuals will arrive in time to attack the rotting fruit.
Based on everything we said earlier, the conclusion suggests itself that the best remedy for fruit gnats is undoubtedly prevention. It is always easier to prevent an attack than to heroically fight it later.
So, let’s outline preventive measures that do not allow the wine fly to appear in our apartment:
Attention! Wash purchased vegetables and fruits with boiling water, it kills fruit fly eggs. The same advice applies to collected fruits, berries and vegetables brought from the forest or your favorite summer house. If it is not possible to quickly process the product, put it in the refrigerator or run hot water over it. At room temperature, store only those that can last a long time without spoiling.
If the enemy does appear, then you need to think about how to get rid of fruit flies in the apartment. First, you should throw away all the garbage on which Drosophila can reproduce, and then thoroughly clean the premises with detergents.
If it is possible to leave the apartment, then the best way to get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen and throughout the house is to use special aerosols such as Dichlorvos or Raptor.
Attention! After using highly toxic products, be sure to thoroughly ventilate the premises!
If midges appear in the apartment, but it is not possible to go somewhere, then use some kind of fruit fly trap. This can be either store-bought Velcro or a variety of homemade products, which have long been in honor among our fellow citizens.
Sweet sticky tape can be easily made at home by spreading a strip of paper with honey or sugar syrup with the addition of rosin and glycerin.
You can use, for example, this simple device:
The principle of operation of this trap is simple: midges, attracted by the delicious sweet smell, easily penetrate the jar through the funnel, but they cannot get back out.
Winter. It's minus 30 outside. Complete absence of insects. No mosquitoes, no flies. The question arises, where do small, annoying midges come from? Yes, these are those small flies that live in the kitchen and in trash cans. If you have asked this question and you are not indifferent to their appearance, influence and struggle, then let us examine the topic in more detail.
Have you ever thought that as soon as you leave a slightly rotten apple or other fruit, after a while the whole apartment is full of small flies? But all the windows and doors are closed tightly, and it’s winter outside with its cold conditions. That is, in other words, they cannot fly in from the street. And that's a fact.
So where do they come from then?
These flies are called Drosophila midges or wine flies, or fruit flies, there are, of course, other names for them. Midges have several species and subspecies. They range in size from 3 to 5mm. Like any insect, there are three stages of development: egg, larva and adult. Development time from egg to adult just a day, provided that the necessary environment is met. And these are rotting vegetables, fruits, sweet juices, compotes, indoor plants, their soil, used tea bags, various trash cans. In general, these flies thrive in decaying environments.
Drosophila (fruit flies) Drosophila (family Drosophilidae, order Diptera). Many species are synanthropic. In nature, they feed on plant sap and rotting plant debris. The larvae also feed on microorganisms.
The life cycle of Drosophila from egg to adult at 25 °C is 10 days, at 18 °C it is approximately twice as long.
Imago (Latin imago - “image”) is the adult (definitive) stage of individual development of insects and some other arthropods with a complex life cycle. At this stage, animals become capable of reproduction (except in cases of neoteny) and often of dispersal. Adults do not molt or grow.
The larvae spoil food (fruits, potatoes, onions, carrots, jam, etc.).
It turned out that flies develop where people forget to clean up on time. But how do these same insects get there? After all, you need to develop from conception. And if you clean everything up in time before and after the flies appear, once the fruit gets spoiled, the flies are right there. How is this possible?
This is explained by the fact that adults lay their eggs on ripe fruit. And when we bring fruits or vegetables home from the store or, in general, from the street, we bring eggs of these hated insects. And for development they need a rotting environment. So, as soon as the brought fruit spoils slightly, the mechanism of development of the fly from egg to adult will be launched. These insects not only have a short development period, but also the ability to develop into large quantities individuals. Hence the appearance of large swarms in a short period of time.
How to get rid of such unpleasant creatures? Very simple. You need to wash purchased and brought fruits and vegetables in hot water or, better yet, pour boiling water over them, then the eggs will die. To be sure, store vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator, because the fly cannot develop in the cold. If something is rotten anyway, immediately get rid of it by thoroughly washing the place where it was all stored. Check all secluded places with food, clean them from possible rotting. When watering indoor plants, try not to overdo it with moisture. Do not store garbage bags and buckets for a long time, because any garbage tends to deteriorate, and this increases the likelihood of Drosophila midges appearing.
If you comply simple rules, then there is no need to resort to the use of various types chemicals. And the midges themselves will disappear without appearing.
So catch and prevent development - wash and store everything cool, do not leave the fruit to rot for a long time. Catch - a primitive trap with a paper cone placed in a jar works great.
Options for transferring already in the house from one purchased fruit to another - with your own hands, by placing flies (not necessarily fruit flies) in the same place on the table. Perhaps, unnoticed for now, she is just a fruit fly that will quickly inseminate everything around her.
The most common causes of midges
As experts convince, there are more than a thousand different types of midges, and if some of them annoy animals, others harm plants, then fruit flies, or so-called wine flies, most often appear in the house.
In order to take effective measures to combat insects, it is worth finding out where they came from.
These insects typically breed in the following places:
in the kitchen, where plant residues are contained, flies especially love rotten fruits and vegetables;
in the bathroom, if wet rags, damp stale things are stored there, or the water supply is clogged;
near cages in which pets are kept, aquariums with fish, if their care is not too thorough;
in flowerpots with indoor flowers, if they are refilled too often.
There are many more such potential places in an apartment, but the main factors that explain the proliferation of insects are dampness and dirt. By eliminating these conditions, you can protect your home from the invasion of midges.
Often midges are found in the soil of domestic plants. Plants require moderate watering; do not use tea leaves or coffee grounds to feed flowers. When humidity rises, flower midge appears, it spoils the leaves and root system, and it is not easy to get rid of it. Having reduced watering, the soil in the pot is spilled with a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate, and if this does not help, then the soil is completely changed. You can use insecticides specifically designed for soil: (“Agravertin”, “Grom”, “Karbofos”, “Fitoverm”).
House midges do not like strong odors of garlic, citrus, camphor, and incense; these products will help drive insects out of the house. Household traps are also effective for eliminating midges. IN glass jar pour juice, compote or throw in pieces of fruit. A funnel folded out of paper with a small hole at the tip is inserted into the jar, carefully sealing the joints with tape. Flying in on the smell, insects crawl through the hole into the jar, but cannot return back.
If these measures do not help, you need to use traps or industrially produced aerosols.
In the fight against house flies, you need to use all available means. After the fruit flies leave your home, do not forget about proper storage of food and keeping the house clean.
More than a thousand species of midges have been identified in the world. Some of them annoy animals and plants, while others - such as midges in an apartment - disturb residents. If you ask different people As for what the midges did to them, you can hear completely different opinions: they end up in my tea; a cat chases after them and tears off the curtains; they get into the eyes and ears of our children; they bite painfully; they ruined the leaves of my plants; they spread infection; I love cleanliness, and midges are a sign of contamination of the room.
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