The Summer Stings: No-See-Ums – from Tri-County Pest Control

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Chances are you may have heard about them, but you may not have seen them – that’s right – those pesky, biting midges called, appropriately, “No-See-Ums”. Just what are these pests all about?

What if we told you that there are over 4,000 species of no-see-ums throughout the world? With so many of them out there, there’s a good chance you have experienced their wrath at some point in your life.

No-see-ums tend to hang out and congregate near bodies of water and especially near beaches. Their activity level is also heightened during the early morning hours as well as the evening. If you’ve taken up hobbies such as fishing, gardening or even a water sport such as paddle-boarding, these pests can be bad news for you.

For such a minuscule pest, no-see-ums pack a powerful bite. Bites appear as small blisters and itch – a lot. The next time you’re spending an extended period at or near the beach, you may want to pack some anti-itch cream in your bag, just to be safe.

These biting midges also give sand flies a bad rap – which are members of an entirely different biological group. Female no-see-ums feed on blood, needing it for the maturation of fertilized eggs. As they are out in force during those aforementioned times of the day, you may want to avoid being outdoors as well as bites can lead to severely itchy hives. Relief can be found by applying topical steroids in order to relieve the itching, as well as inflammation.

Unfortunately, while it’s effectively impossible to completely ride your environment of no-see-ums, there are some small measures you can take to potentially slow down their wrath:

  • Be vigilant about continuously removing all standing water from your yard
  • If possible, screen in your porch or patio area
  • If you’re out at dawn or dusk, try to cover your skin with long-sleeved clothing

Just as we spoke about last week, remediation of no-see-ums is difficult for us because of where they congregate and breed. However, here at Tri-County Pest Control, we believe education is key for our clients and customers. Therefore, the more you know, the better you can also be prepared.

 

 

 

 

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